carjack setting things straight 2009
by mama3
Summary: this is an carjack story that i began to write in 2009 and which starts around the time that carly was having problems with alcohol and jack had married janet
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR"S NOTE : THIS IS AN OLD CARJACK STORY OF MINE THAT I WROTE WHEN JACK WAS MARRIED TO JANET AND CARLY WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ALCOHOL.

HOPE YOU ENJOY.

Carjack 2009

Part one…

Carly woke up with a splitting headache and a lousy taste in her mouth,not really sure what had happened the night before or how she'd ended up in her own bedroom.

Then she heard somebody walking up the stairs and knowing that the kids were over at the farm for the weekend she was scared of who that was;"Who's there?"

"Don't worry,carly,it's just me."said a familiar voice at the other side of the door;"Can I come in?"

"Rosanna?"asked she confused when her sister came into her bedroom;"How…?"

"I found you passed out on the couch here late lastnight and you were pretty out of it."started her sister hesitating as she sat down on the bed;"How long has this been going on and why on earth are you doing this to yourself?"

"I don't know,rosanna,I guess I'm just doing what comes naturally to me."answered carly with a faint smile;"Destroying myself."

"Then stop doing that,honey,why is everybody letting you do this to yourself?"asked she worried;"Why isn't jack helping or something?"

"Jack doesn't have to help me anymore because he's married to somebody else now,so I'm not his problem anymore."said her sister;"I'm really happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too,but not like this and it's gonna stop,honey,you need to stop doing this to yourself!"answered rosanna;"Even if jack is married to somebody else then you're still the mother of his kids and he should be there for you when you're in trouble!"

"No,I don't want him to help me,because he can't come to my rescue everytime something is wrong!"started carly tired;"This time it's really over between us and we both have to accept that,so he can't move on one minute and come to my rescue the next,rosanna,that doesn't work for me anymore!"

"I'm sure that if jack knew he'd want to help you and maybe you should let him help you,because you need somebody that loves you to help you through this."

"Ofcourse jack would want to help if he knew,rosanna,that's beside the point."said her sister;"I don't want him help!"

"Why not?"asked rosanna confused;"Why don't you want him to help,carly?"

"He's part of the problem,rosanna,one minute he's telling me all the things I'm doing wrong according to him and the next thing I know he suddenly wants to rescue me when I'm in trouble."answered she;"Each time I try to move on with my life because things are over between us I just get sucked right back into it and I can't do it anymore,because it's driving me crazy."

"What if you guys could work it out somehow?"started her sister curious;"What if you could find a way to get jack back?"

"I'm done with playing games and tricking him."said carly;"I'm done with hoping for a future for jack and me."

"You don't really mean that,carly,you love jack and I know he loves you,so how can you just give up?"

"I have to,because this is tearing me apart and I need to find a way to move on from all of this."answered she;"I'm tired,honey,do you mind closing the door behind you on your way out?"

"Sure,honey."said rosanna worried as she left the room and walked away;"I have some things to do,so I'll be back later."

Thirty minutes later at the lakeview rosanna was waiting at a table when craig walked up to her;"Hello,rosanna,where's carly?"

"That's none of your business and I want you to stay away from my sister!"warned she him annoyed;"She has enough to deal with without you complicating her life even more and she doesn't need a low-life like yourself!"

"Does carly feel the same way?"asked craig;"Or is this the talk of a jealous sister?"

"Jealous of what?"laughed rosanna;"Do you really think that carly loves you or something,craig,is that what you think?"

"In his dreams maybe."said jack as he appeared behind craig;"Carly would never fall for him."

"If it isn't detective know it all."smiled craig and turned around;"I know that you can't stand seeing carly with me or anybody else for that matter,even though you are married to somebody else,jack,and that you want to see your ex-wife all alone and miserable while you enjoy abusing her with words and keeping her down."

"If I were you,craig,I'd get the hell out of here and quickly!"warned he craig angry and pushed him;"Before I lose my temper!"

"The truth hurts doesn't it?"asked craig as he walked away.

"He really gets under your skin,jack."started rosanna curious while jack sat down at her table;"Thanks for coming."

"You said that it was important."answered her ex-brother-in-law;"What is it,rosanna,is there something wrong with carly?"

"If carly knew that I was talking to you right now she'd kill me,so please don't tell her about this!""said she hesitating;"Carly is a big trouble and if somebody doesn't do something about it things will go terribly wrong."

"I know carly is in trouble,rosanna,she has been for a while and we've tried to help her,but she won't let us."started jack slowly;"What do you suggest we do?"

"Let me take carly away with me for a while,jack,away from all of this and most of all,jack,away from you!"answered rosanna;"Now that I have most of my money back from craig I can afford to take my sister away for a while and help her to get past this and we can even have the kids come over for weekends or holidays."

"Away from me?"asked he irritated;"Why does she need to get away from me?"

"You're driving her crazy with your changing attitude,jack,she needs to be away from you and maybe it's good that you're away from her too because you need to focus on your marriage instead of on your ex-wife all the time!"

"I am focused on my marriage and I don't have a changing attitude!"

"Come on,jack,you married somebody else,but the minute carly is with somebody,doesn't matter who,you start acting like some jealous caveman!"laughed rosanna;"You made your choice when you married that woman and now give carly a chance to move on from you,because that's what she needs right now and if you love her then you will let her go!"

"You're making it sound like I'm keeping carly from moving on,rosanna,now you're sounding like craig!"said jack angry and got up again;"If carly wants to move on then fine and I have never stopped her from that!"

"Be honest for once,jack,you know damn well that each time carly is trying to move on that you do something to keep pulling her back into your orbit and that needs to stop because you have moved on too when you married that woman!"answered she as she got up as well;"I will take carly away from here for a while and I will contact you about how and when the kids will be able to come to stay with her."

"Wait a minute,rosanna,I didn't agree to this yet and what do you mean by you will contact me?"asked he stuned;"Why can't carly do that herself?"

"You don't have a say in this and I will do whatever I can to keep carly away from you while we're gone,because she needs to be away from you and move on and if you really love her then you will let her move on."said rosanna while she walked away;"You have made your choice,so live with it and let carly live her life!"

To be continued….


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the meanwhile carly was laying up in her bedroom,feeling pretty restless,and decided to go downstairs when parker came in through the frontdoor;"Hey,mom."

"Hi,honey."said she happy that he was home and that she wouldn't be alone;"Why aren't you at the farm?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay."started parker hesitating;"I overheard dad talking to janet yesterday,mom,he sounded really worried about you."

"You shouldn't be listening in on people's conversations,parker,you know that and there's nothing for you to worry about,because I'm fine."

"No,you're not!"answered he;"Janet was telling dad to mind his own business and to stay away from you,mom,but he told her that he couldn't do that and that he couldn't let you destroy yourself!"

"Your dad's overreacting and janet is right,honey,he's with her now and he needs to let me do my own thing."said carly with a sad smile;"Maybe I'm going through a rough time now,but I'm gonna be just fine and there's nothing for you to worry about."

"Dad might have married her,mom,but he will never be able to let you go and he…."began her son hesitating when he saw the pain flashing in carly's eyes;"Never mind."

"I know that you guys always wanted your father and I to get back together again,but that isn't going to happen and he's married to janet now."answered she;"We all have to accept that and move on!"

At the snyder-farm janet was making,as always,something to eat when jack came in;"Hey,honey."

"Hi."said jack without even looking at her and sat down at the kitchentable;"Where are the kids?"

"Sage is upstairs and I don't know where parker is."answered his wife surprised;"What's wrong with you,jack,why are you in such a bad mood?"

"I'm not in a bad mood."started he annoyed and got up again;"I'm going for a walk."

"Hold on there,mister,I want to know what happened!"said janet worried as she stopped jack as he wanted to walk out the backdoor again;"What happened?"

"Rosanna wants to take carly away from here for a while and then the kids can come to visit her from time to time."answered her husband;"And I'm not suppose to know where they are going or even talk to carly while they are gone,janet."

"Oh,it's about carly again."began she angry and turned away from him;"Damn it,jack,why does it always have to be about her?"

"It isn't always about carly and you're overreacting,janet,i've just had an annoying afternoon and please don't start with me too!"

"Why did you even marry me,jack,why?"asked his wife;"No matter how hard I try to make you forget about her you just always let her suck you back into her life."

"Why do you always blame carly for everything damn it,janet?"said he angry and walked away;"I'm not in the mood for this!"

At carly's parker was doing his best to distract his mother and was even able to make her smile a few times with funny stories and jokes when his aunt came in through the frontdoor;"Hi,aunt rosanna."

"Hi,guys."smiled she;"I've got great news,carly,we are going away together for a while."

"We are?"asked her sister surprised;"Who's we?"

"You and me."answered rosanna;"I'm taking you away from here for a while and the kids can come to visit us on weekends and during the holidays,carly."

"No,I'm not going anywhere!"said she irritated;"No way,rosanna,I'm not leaving my kids behind again."  
"It wouldn't be like that this time,honey,you're not leaving them behind and I'm sure they would understand that you need some time to yourself to get better again."started her sister slowly as she turned towards parker;"You would understand,wouldn't you?"

"Don't drag my son into this!"warned carly her angry and walked away;"I'm not going anywhere."

At yo's brad was having a drink alone when his brother came in and sat down next to him;"Hey,bro."

"Hey."said jack and ordered a beer;"What are you doing here,brad,problems with the wife?"  
"No,but by the looks of you i'm guessing you do have problems."answered he;"Are you guys fighting over carly again?"

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"asked his brother annoyed;"Not everything is about carly!"

"No,but most of it is,jack,most of your problems with your wives are about carly and about the way that you refuse to let her go."started brad slowly;"I still don't get why you keep getting married to other women when it's obvisious that you can't let carly go and that you won't let her move on."

"I'm getting sick and tired of people accusing me of doing that!"said he and wanted to walk away again;"You're all wrong!"

"Sure,jack,we're all wrong and you're always right!"answered his brother as he grabbed jack's arm;"Make up your mind,bro,because one day carly will have really moved on and then it will be too late!"

"Mind your own damn business!"yelled jack angry and walked away;"Leave me alone,brad!"

Carly was sitting out on the porch when craig showed up;"Hey,carly,is the coast clear?"

"If you're asking me if my sister is here then yes,craig,she is."answered she irritated;"What do you want?"

"What kind of way is that to greet somebody?"laughed craig;"We still haven't celibrated the fact that our last business-deal went so well."

"Leave my sister alone!"warned rosanna as she came out the frontdoor;"Get out of here,craig,if you ever come back again I'll shoot your manhood off!"

"Carly is a grown woman,rosanna,she can make up her own mind!"said he;"She doesn't need you to look after her!"

"She does against a low-life like you!"answered his ex;"Leave my sister alone!"

"Why don't you both just leave me alone damn it!"yelled carly furious as she got up again and away;"I've had enough!"

"Carly…."called her sister on after her,but carly refused to come back and walked away,so she turned towards craig;"Are you happy now,craig?"

To be continued….


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Later that day sage was up in her room at the farm when her brother walked in;"Hi,parker,do you know when dad is gonna bring us home tomorrow?"

"No,I don't know,sage,he isn't even home and I can't get a normal answer from janet about where he is."began he slowly;"I need to talk to you about mom."

"Why?"asked his sister worried;"Did something happen and is that why dad isn't here?"

"Nothing happened and I doubt if dad is where mom is,so that has got nothing to do with what I want to talk about."answered parker;"Aunt rosanna wants to take mom away for a while,sage,but she doesn't want to go because of us."

"I don't want mom to leave again either,parker,if she does I want to go with her."

"This isn't about you,sage,this is about mom needing some time away from her and about aunt rosanna trying to help her,so don't be so selfish!"  
"I'm not selfish!"said she angry;"You'd be happy if mom left,because you'd rather see her leave then stay,but I don't want her to go away!"

"I don't want to see her go either,but I think that it's what mom needs right now."answered her brother;"Everybody keeps trying to act like everything's fine and mom says that she's fine too,but I don't believe that and I've got a feeling that if mom doesn't go away with aunt rosanna that something terrible will happen to her!"  
"You're only saying that to scare me,parker,I don't believe you!"started sage scared;"Why are you being so mean?"

"I'm not being mean,sage,I'm being honest,which is more then I can say for the most grown-ups around us,and right now we need to do what is right for mom!"said he and walked away;"Don't tell what I told you to dad!"

At the snyder-pond carly was sitting there by the water,enjoying the silence,when she heard somebody behind her and got annoyed when she saw who it was as she turned around;"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."said jack with a faint smile;"I'm sorry,carly,I didn't know you were gonna be here."

"I'm going home."answered she and got up;"Bye,jack."

"Hey,wait a second,carly,you don't have to go because of me."started her ex hesitating and stopped her;"Are you okay?"

"That's not for you to worry about anymore,jack,remember?"said carly,pulling away from him;"I need to get home anyway."

"Just because I'm married to janet that doesn't mean that I can't be worried about you anymore,carly!"

"Yes,it does!"answered she with tears in her eyes;"We can't be doing this anymore,because it's driving me crazy!"

"What is?"asked jack confused;"Why can't I be worried about you?"

"The second you said I do to janet you lost the right to be worried about me because you can't move on and pull me back towards you at the same time!"said his ex-wife angry;"You didn't want to be with me,jack,but you won't allow me to move on and I can't deal with it anymore!"

"I'm sorry!"started he stuned and grabbed carly's arm again when she wanted to walk away;"I just…."

"Just let me go!"begged carly as she pulled away for a second time and left;"Please!"

Rosanna was waiting for carly to come home when the doorbell rang and to her surprise she saw a strange woman standing there;"Hello,I'm janet snyder."

"So?"asked rosanna and disliked the woman right there and then;"What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for my husband,jack snyder."answered janet;"Is he here,miss…?"

"No,he isn't and neither is carly,so goodbye."said rosanna and closed the door in janet's face;"Oh,my god,how on earth could jack have married that?"

As rosanna wanted to walk to the kitchen the doorbell rang again and when she opened the door janet was still standing there,looking angry;"Yes,what can I do for you this time,mrs. Snyder?"

"Where I come from we don't shut the door in people's faces."started she angry;"Where is carly?"

"I don't know what rock you came crawling under from,but where I come from we do close the door in annoying people's faces."answered rosanna with an angel smile;"I don't think it's any of your business where my sister is,so run along now."

"Your sister?"asked janet steaming mad;"That explains a lot."

"Excuse me?"said she,trying to stay calm;"Sounds like you have a problem with my sister."

"Your sister is always trying to pull my husband back into her life and she will do whatever she can use to get his attention!"answered janet;"I'm gonna put a stop to that!"

"Oh,really?"started rosanna furious as she suddenly punched janet right off the doorstep and shut the door;"Get out and stay out!"

To be continued….


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A while later Carly was sitting at metro with a glass infront of her and a bottle of vodka next to it on the bar,just staring at infront of her,when her sister came in and sat down next to her;"Do you think that's going to help?"

"For a while."answered carly with a faint smile;"It's hard,rosanna,I want it so bad even though I know it's a mistake and I shouldn't be drinking,but I can't resist it."

"I hate seeing you like this,honey,please come with me on a trip together and we will get through this together."said she;"You need to get away from here for a while."

"I already told you that I'm not going anywhere!"started her sister angry;"I'm staying here!"

"If you stay here things will only get worse,carly,you know that!"answered rosanna;"Deep down in your heart you know that you need to leave this town for a while and get your life back on track again."

"Do you really think that leaving will change anything?"asked she tired;"I left before and it only made things worse."

"This time it will be different,sweety,I promise and this time I will be there every step of the way."promised her sister and put her hand on carly's arm;"I will help you!"

"It's too late!"said carly with a sad smile as she got up and walked out of the club;"I'm not worth being saved!"

Out at the farm jack came home in an even worse mood then before when he walked into the kitchen and saw his wife with a black eye;"What happened to you?"

"That nasty woman that's staying with carly did this to me!"said janet;"She hit me for no reason."

"For no reason?"asked her husband suspicious;"Do you really expect me to believe that rosanna hit you just like that,janet?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"said she angry;"That woman is just as bad as her sister and I can't believe you're gonna be letting the kids stay there."

"Rosanna isn't bad or anything and why do you keep bad mouthing carly?"started jack angry as well;"I know that she has made mistakes,janet,but so have we and atleast carly is honest enough to admit that she isn't perfect!"

"Sure,jack,if carly is such a perfect woman then why didn't you marry her instead of me?"answered his wife;"Your ex-wife is a drunk and you're willing to let your kids stay with her?"

"They are her kids as well and not just mine,janet,what do you expect me to do?"asked he tired;"Keep them away from her and push her further over the edge?"

"You've had no problems with wanting to do that before and it isn't your problem if carly is on the edge or something because she's only got herself to blame for that."

"You don't know what you're talking about and you have no idea what kind of year carly has had or how rough it has been for her,janet,part of what is going on with carly right now is my fault!"answered her husband and walked away;"I'm not in the mood for this,so I'm out of here and don't expect me home any time soon."

Back at in milltown carly came home and went straight to the kitchen where she wanted to have a drink from the bottle of vodka that she had hidden away when she couldn't find him and looked everywhere for them;"Damn it!"

"Are you looking for these?"asked her son as he came into the kitchen with empty bottles;"Sorry,mom,but i guess you won't be able to drink these anymore."

"What did you do damn it!"said carly shocked as well as angry;"You had no right to do that,parker!"

"Somebody has to try and protect you from yourself!"answered he;"Please,let aunt rosanna help you and go away with her for a while,mom,before you really hurt yourself!"

"It isn't that bad,parker,you're making it sound like I'm in over my head and that isn't true!"

"Yes,it is!"started her son with tears in his eyes as he turned around and walked away;"I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Damn it!"yelled carly furious at herself and threw one of the empty bottles up against the wall;"Damn it!"

To be continued….


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Katie was watching a movie with brad when the doorbell rang and when she opened the door to her surprise rosanna was standing there;"Hello,Katie,is your husband home?"  
"What do you want with brad?"asked she a bit jealous;"What do you want?"

"Hey."smiled her husband as he showed up and saw rosanna standing there;"What can I do for you,miss?"

"I'm rosanna."answered she;"Carly's sister."

"Jack told me about you."said brad;"Carly must be thrilled that you're back."

"Brad!"started his wife annoying and looked at rosanna;"What do you want?"

"I want you to talk to your brother and ask him to help me to get carly away from here for a while,because she's in deep trouble and staying here will only make things worse."answered rosanna,totally ignoring Katie,as she looked at brad;"Carly told me that you were an amazing friend to her when she was sick,so I thought that you might be willing to help her again."

"Ofcourse i will help with whatever I can if it will help carly."said he and looked worried;"Is it that bad?"

"Ofcourse not,brad,carly is a master at faking things to get what she wants!"answered Katie;"She's probably trying to get jack back again."

"Shut up,Katie!"warned her husband her angry;"Don't ever say something like that again!"

"Can I count on your help,brad,will you get your brother to help me into convincing carly to go away with me for a while?"asked rosanna,trying not to laugh about the expression on katie's face;"I'm also working on something else that will help carly for sure!"

"You can count me in."smiled he;"I'll talk to him in the morning."

Craig had been knocking on carly's door for a while when she finally opened the door;"What do you want?"

"I come in peace."said craig;"Can I please come in,carly?"

"No!"answered she;"Go away,craig,leave me alone!"

"Come on,carly,don't be like this and let me come in."

"I said no!"yelled carly suddenly furious as she pushed him off the doorstep and shut the door in his face;"Go away and leave me the hell alone,craig!"

"Carly…!"started he worried as he gazed through the window when all of a sudden somebody pulled him away from the door;"Hey!"

"She said no,craig!"said jack;"Get lost!"

"What are you doing here anyway,detective snyder,why aren't you with your wife instead of here on your ex-wife's porch?"asked craig;"You really can't stand it seeing carly with somebody else,can you?"

"Shut up and get lost!"warned he craig annoyed and grabbed his coat;"Now leave before I throw you off this porch!"

"You have no business throwing anybody off this porch!"laughed craig when jack pushed him right off the porch;"Hey!"

"What is the matter with you two?"asked his ex-wife as she arrived and looked angry at the two men;"Doesn't carly have enough on her mind without you two acting like a bunch of kids on her porch?"

"It was his fault!"answered jack;"Carly doesn't want him here,so I'm just making him leave,rosanna,I'm helping her!"

"Carly doesn't want you here either all the time,coming to her rescue,jack,so you both need to leave her alone!"said rosanna as she pushed them both away and walked into the house;"Now!"

Inside the house carly was feeling really restless about not being able to drink and she was searching the kitchen again to see if parker had overlooked anything when her sister walked into the kitchen;"What are you doing,carly?"

"Nothing!"answered she lying;"Did you run into your ex-husband outside?"

"Yes,but I made him go away."said rosanna and decided not to tell carly that jack was there too as she saw the broken glass shattered across the floor;"What happened here?"

"Nothing."started her sister quickly;"It fell,but I'll clean it up in a minute,rosanna,don't worry."

"Why don't you let me clean that up and go take a hot,long bath upstairs."answered she,gently pushing carly out of the kitchen;"After I clean it up I will fix us something to eat when you're finished with your bath and we can watch an old movie or something together."

"Okay,thanks."said carly with a faint smile while she walked away.

"My plan better work."started her sister talking to herself as she began to clean up the broken glass;"It better!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Parker was walking along in milltown when he ran into his father;"What are you doing here,parker,why aren't you at the farm?"

"I could ask you the same thing,dad,why aren't you with janet?"asked he;"Are you guys fighting again?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about."answered jack;"Do you wanna grab something to eat together?"

"Aren't you mad at me for being outhere like this instead of at the farm where I'm suppose to be?"started his son confused;"You must be really upset if you're not even going to yell at me or anything,dad."

"Very funny,smart ass."said he with a faint smile;"I'm not upset."

"You're not a very good liar."answered parker;"It's written all over your face that you're upset."

"Now you sound just like your mother,parker."laughed his father;"She could always tell when I was upset and I couldn't hide anything from her either."

"Is that a bad thing?"asked he hesitating;"Beeing like mom?"

"No,not at all,parker,don't ever think that!"said jack surprised about his question;"Your mother is an amazing woman and you should be proud of being her son,so it's no shame being like her!"

That night carly was getting more and more restless because she wanted a drink so badly,but she tried to hide it from her sister,who was watching her like a hawk;"Are you okay,carly?"

"I'm fine,rosanna,just fine and don't you have somewhere you need to go or something?"

"No,i don't have anywhere to go and I'm staying right here."said she;"Let's go away together for a while,carly,it will make you feel a whole lot better."

"Don't start that again!"answered her sister annoyed when the doorbell rang and when she went to open the door janet was standing on her doorstep;"Oh,great,what do you want?"

"Is my husband here?"asked janet;"Have you seen him,carly,do you know where he is?"

"Do I look like his secretary or something?"started she angry;"He isn't here and I have no idea where he is,so goodbye!"

"But…."began her ex's wife as carly shut the door in her face.

"Was that jack's wife again?"said rosanna surprised;"That woman has got some nerve!"

"What do you mean with again?"asked carly suspicious;"Did you have something to do with her black eye,rosanna?"

"That was her own fault,carly,the things she said…"started her sister slowly;"I really don't understand why jack married that trash!"

"Because she wasn't me!"answered she with tears in her eyes and grabbed her coat and keys;"I'm going for a drive!"

"I will come with you."said rosanna quickly and wanted to follow carly out the door;"Let's go!"

"No,I'm going alone!"began carly tired as she stopped her sister from following her and walked away by herself;"I need some time alone,rosanna!"

Katie was already up in bed when brad came into the bedroom and layed down next to her;"So,are you still angry with me?"

"What do you think?"asked his wife pouting;"You were mean to me!"

"If you hadn't said those things about carly then I wouldn't have had to be!"answered brad annoyed;"Why do you hate her so much,katie,are you still angry at her because of what happened with simon?"

"No,simon has got nothing to do with this and that woman stole my husband from me,so I have every reason to be angry with her!"said she;"If it weren't for her…"

"Jack and you would still be together."started her husband hurt and got off the bed;"Thanks a lot."

"Brad…."called katie on after him as he walked out the bedroom;"I didn't mean that the way that it sounded."

"Sure."answered he and went into the guestroom;"Goodnight,Katie!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Carly had been sitting at metro for almost an hour,finishing up a bottle of vodka and had just grabbed a second one,when jack walked in and stopped her from opening it up;"You don't want to do this."

"How do you know what I want?"asked carly angry;"You're not my husband anymore!"

"I know,but that doesn't mean that I don't…"started her ex hesitating and grabbed her arm;"Come on,carly,let me drive you home."

"I can drive myself home!"answered she,pulling away from him;"I don't need your help!"

"No,I won't let you get into your car!"warned jack her worried as he stopped her when she wanted to walk away,a bit unsteady;"You're drunk,carly,you can't drive!"

"I'm drunk,jack,so what?"asked his ex;"Why aren't you yelling at me for what a lousy mother I am and what a bad example I'm setting for my kids?"

"I'm not gonna yell at you."said he softly and put his arm around her waist when he saw that she was losing her balance and almost falling down on her face;"I'm gonna take you home."

"Leave me the hell alone!"yelled carly furious while she pushed jack away;"I don't want your help anymore and I want you to leave me alone!"

"I can't do that!"started her ex not sure what to do;"Asking me not to help you is like asking me not to breath,carly,I can't!"

"Go to hell,jack snyder!"answered she and as she turned around to walk out the door she lost her balance and fell,hitting her head against the wall.

"Carly!"yelled jack shocked and quickly rushed to her side as he saw that she was unconscious;"Carly!"

At the farm parker walked in and found janet making cookies;"Why are you making cookies at this hour?"

"Because I like cooking."answered janet annoyed;"Do you know where your father is,parker?"

"What if I do?"asked he;"If dad wants you to know where he is then he will tell you."

"Watch that tone with me,young man!"said his father's wife;"I won't stand for that kind of attitude!"

"You're not my mother!"started parker irritated;"You can't tell me what to do,janet!"

"If I was your mother you'd be better off because I wouldn't have let things get so out of control!"answered she;"But I suppose your mother is too busy getting drunk then to teach you how to behave yourself."

"Shut up about my mother!"yelled her husband's son angry;"My mother is the best mother there is and you're not half as good as she is,because if you were my dad would be with you right now instead…"

"Instead of what?"asked janet suspicious;"Is he with her,parker?"

"I don't know and if you want to know then just call my dad!"answered he and walked away,up to his room;"I'm going to bed!"

At the hospital jack was waiting outside of the emergency-room when rosanna showed up;"How is she,jack,is she okay?"

"I don't know."answered he tired;"Nobody's telling me anything here."

"What happened?"asked rosanna;"Did she get into an accident in her car or something?"

"No,she fell and hit her head really hard when she wanted to leave."said her friend;"I found her at metro,drinking,rosanna,and she wouldn't let me help her."

"Please,jack,let me take carly away with me for a while and give her a chance to get better again!"begged she softly and grabbed his arm;"Do you really want to wait for something terrible to happen and what if you hadn't been able to get there in time tonight and she'd gotten into her own car?"

"You're right,rosanna,it would be best for carly if she went away with you for while."answered jack when bob showed up;"How is she doing?"

"Carly hit her head pretty badly,jack,but she'll be okay."said bob;"You can take her home,but somebody will have to stay with her and wake her up every few hours just to make sure she's okay."

"Thanks."started he and turned towards rosanna again;"Thank god she's okay."

"Will you please help me convince carly to come away with me for a while?"asked rosanna;"Carly won't come because she doesn't want to leave the kids again,but this is for her own good and I need you to convince her to come."

"I will try."promised her friend;"I will."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next morning rosanna was having breakfast when craig showed up on carly's doorstep;"What do you want,craig?"

"I came here to talk to carly."said he;"Can I come in?"

"No!"answered rosanna;"Go away!"

"Look,rosanna,i just want to help carly and you can't decide for carly who can see her and who can't!"started her ex-husband slowly;"Go and get carly!"

"I can't do that right now,because carly is still asleep."said she tired;"Maybe you really do think that you're helping my sister and maybe you even truly care about her,but you can't give her what she needs and it would be better for carly is you stayed away from her!"

"How would that be better?"laughed craig;"Who else will be there for her?"

"She's got me!"answered his ex-wife and closed the door in his face;"I will help her through this!"

At the farm Jack was having his morning-coffee after hardly sleeping at all during the night when his wife came downstairs;"Where were you lastnight,jack,I waited untill real late lastnight but you didn't come home untill after I fell asleep."

"I'm not in the mood for another fight!"answered he tired and got up;"I have to go!"

"Hey,guys."said brad as he came in and noticed the tension between his brother and janet;"Did I catch you at a bad time or something?"

"What are you doing here,brad?"asked his brother;"I don't have time for you right now."

"Then make time,because I need to talk to you."started he slowly;"Rosanna asked me to talk to you and get you to convince carly to go away with her sister for a while."

"Why does everything have to be about carly?"said janet angry;"Carly is a lush that got herself in this mess and she can get herself out of it too!"

"Enough,janet,shut up about carly for once!"answered her husband furious as he walked out the backdoor;"I don't have time for this!"

Ten minutes later jack showed up at carly's doorstep as rosanna opened the door;"Hi,rosanna,I came to see how carly is doing."

"She's still asleep."said she and let him in;"I have already made plans for our long vacation and we'll be leaving in a few days."

"So soon and before you even know if we'll be able to convince carly of going with you?"asked jack surprised;"Where are you going?"  
"That's a surprise and I will get her to come with me."started his friend hesitating;"Let's face the truth,jack,my sister has got a real problem and she needs help."

"I wish that I could help her,rosanna,I really do."

"You can."answered rosanna;"By letting her go,jack,you have made your choice and stand by that choice by letting carly go!"

"Do you know what you're asking of me?"said he softly;"Just because I married janet that doesn't mean that I didn't love carly anymore,but we just couldn't go back to the way that things were before."

"Do you love janet?"asked his friend curious;"Do you love her like you love my sister?"

"I could never love anybody like I love carly,rosanna,but we've tried so many times and it just didn't work,so I moved on."answered jack;"I had to!"

"You had to?"started she stuned;"Sounds to me like you're only with janet because you were scared of trying again with carly."

"What are you doing here?"asked a voice coming from behind them and when they turned around they saw carly standing there with a robe on;"Did you come to yell at me again or something?"

"What are you doing downstairs,carly,you should be up in bed!"said her sister worried as she quickly helped carly on to the couch;"How are you feeling?"

"Fine!"answered carly lying and looked up at jack;"Well,jack,why don't we just get it over and done with and you can feel all high and mighty again by making me feel like I can't do anything right,so start laying into me about getting drunk and making a mess of things again!"

"I didn't come here to yell at you or anything."started he with a sigh and sat down next to her;"I think that you should go away with rosanna for a while to get better again and focus on yourself for a change,carly,you're in over your head and I want you to get better again."

"Why?"asked his ex-wife irritated;"So that you can use that to take the kids away from me?"

"Ofcourse not,carly,I don't want to take the kids away from you and I just want you to get better again,because I'm worried about you and I'm scared for you."said jack frustrated,wanting to put his arms around carly and make all her problems vanish into thin air,but he knew she wouldn't want him to;"The kids want you to get better again too and they can come to visit you while you're away with your sister,so promise me that you will take this trip with rosanna."

"See,sweety,nobody will mind if you came with me and it'll be fun."answered rosanna;"I have already booked us a nice stay at a surprise location and it'll be great being there together."

"I don't know."started her sister confused as she got up and walked back up the stairs;"I need to think about it."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9…..

Jack had left not long after carly had gone back to bed and after sleeping for a while carly came back downstairs again,where rosanna was watching old home-movies and looked up when her sister sat down next to her;"Hey,how are you feeling?"

"Fine!"said carly with a faint smile and turned sad when she saw that rosanna was watching jack and hers wedding in montana;"Could you turn that off please?"

"Sure,carly,I'm sorry."started her sister slowly and turned off the tv;"Jack still loves you,you know."

"I know that he does and I still love him,but he made his choice when he married janet."answered she tired;"Can we please not talk about jack?"

"Ofcourse,but you do know that you will have to talk about it at one point and find a way to move on from this whole mess."said rosanna;"That is why going away together is so important and it's what you need right now to get your life back together again."

"I….."began her sister tired when the doorbell rang;"If that's craig or jack then please send them away because I'm not in the mood for either of them,rosanna,please?"

"Sure."answered she getting up,went to open the door and came back with a big grin on her face;"Guess who came to see you?"

"What are you doing here?"asked carly stuned as she looked at her vistor;"Am I dreaming?"  
"Nope."smiled her cousin and gave carly a big hug;"I've missed you,carly."

"I've missed you too."started she still thrown by seeing her cousin there;"What are you doing here?"

"Rosanna called me and asked me to come down here,which ofcourse I did gladly."answered molly as she sat down next to carly;"She said that you were in big trouble and that you needed me,so I came right away."

Out at the farm janet was busy in the kitchen when jack walked in;"So,did you finally decide to come back,jack,your daughter has been really annoying with her questions about when you're going to drive her back to her mother's."

"My daughter isn't annoying,janet,just because you're angry with me that doesn't mean that you can take it out on sage!"started he irritated when sage came back downstairs;"Hey,honey."

"When are you going to bring us back to mom?"asked his daughter worried;"We are going to go back there today,dad,aren't we?"

"Well,your mother isn't feeling so well right now because she had a little accident yesterday and hit her head,so it's better if you stay here for a little while longer."said jack;"I will take you and your brother over to your mother's later,sage,but it's better if you guys sleep here instead of there."

"Are you mad at mom again,dad,are you guys fighting again?"answered she;"Is that why you don't want us to stay with her again?"

"No,it's nothing like that,sweety,I'm certainly not mad at your mother and we didn't have a fight either."started her father slowly;"But your mother really isn't feeling well and that is why you won't be sleeping there for now."

Back at carly's rosanna had just left to take care of some things and do some shopping while molly was staying behind with carly,who was feeling really restless again,as they sat on the couch;"How's your headache?"

"Fine,after a couple of painkillers."said carly with a faint smile;"I'm glad you're here,molly,I've missed you."

"I've missed you too,but what have you been doing to yourself?"asked she softly;"You need to find help and stop drinking!"

"I don't know what rosanna has told you,but it isn't that bad."answered her cousin;"I'm just having a bit of a rough time,molly,that's all."

"Hey,it's me that you're talking to and I know you better then that,carly,I can see that you're a mess and that things aren't going so well."started molly slowly;"No more excuses,honey,you need to quit drinking and find help!"

"Do you want to know the truth?"asked she with tears in her eyes as she broke down;"Each time I tell myself that I won't do it anymore and I really mean it,but then something happens and I just need one more drink to get through it,molly,it's all just getting too much and I feel like I'm losing everything."

"But you're not,sweety,you're not losing anything and there are a lot of people who love you and who care about you,so you're not alone!"said her cousin;"Rosanna has told me that she wants to take you away from here for a while and I told her that you guys could come and stay with me and Abigail for a while back in L.A."

"In L.A.?"answered carly surprised;"But I haven't agreed to going downthere yet,molly,I don't want to leave my kids again,because I promised myself that I wouldn't after last time."

"This won't be the same as when you left with simon and the kids will understand why you need to go away for a while,honey,this is different and you need this to get better again because you're not in control anymore and what if something even worse happens next time that you hit the bottle again?"started she softly;"You're coming with us in a few days,carly,I won't take no for an answer and neither will rosanna."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

An hour later molly was talking to rosanna,who had returned,while carly had gone back up to bed because her terrible headache was back,when jack showed up with parker and sage;"Hi,guys,that has been a while."

"Molly?"asked jack stuned as he gave her a hug;"What are you doing here and where's your daughter?"  
"She's still in L.A."answered she;"I came to visit my cousin."

"Good."said her friend;"Carly can really use you right now."

"Yes,she does."started molly with a faint smile as she looked at the kids;"Oh,my god,you guys have grown so much since the last time that I saw you."

"Where's mom?"said sage;"Isn't mom here?"

"She's asleep,sweety,she wasn't feeling so well."answered rosanna quickly;"She had a really bad headache,sage."

"Is mom gonna be okay?"asked she worried;"Is she?"

"Your mother's gonna be fine,honey,I promise."said her aunt;"I'm gonna make sure of that!"

At all's janet was working when Katie came in and sat down at the counter;"Hi."

"Hi,where's brad?"asked janet looking up and noticed the upset look on katie's face;"What's wrong,Katie,did you guys have a fight?"

"Do you wanna know what is wrong?"said she annoyed;"Carly tenney!"

"Why are you upset with her?"answered her friend surprised;"Is brad so full of her too?"

"I can't say a bad thing about her because brad thinks she's so special."started Katie angry;"It makes me sick,janet,because the woman is nothing more then a lying,sneaky little bitch!"

"You forgot to say drunken bitch!"laughed she;"The bottle is on top of her list these days."

"Is jack into her again these days?"asked her friend;"I warned you about that,didn't i?"  
"As soon as she gets into trouble he has to rush to her side and she's always taking advantage of that."answered janet;"I wish the woman would just disappear."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

While the kids were up in carly's bedroom jack was sitting out on the patio when molly came outside with a cup of coffee for him;"Here,jack,you looked like you could use this."

"Thanks."said he with a faint smile as molly sat down next to him;"So,how is it to be back here in oakdale again?"

"Strange."laughed molly at first,but then she suddenly looked really serious;"I have never seen my cousin in this state before,jack,it really scares me."

"I know."started her friend hesitating;"I'm scared for her too,molly,that's why I'm happy that she's got you and rosanna to help her now."

"She seems lost."answered she;"What happened and how did things get so out of hand?"

"I don't know."said jack tired;"I'd just wish that I could fix it."

"You could if you wanted to."began his friend;"Come on,jack,it's obvisious that you're still in love with carly and she still loves you,so what are you doing with that woman,janet,and how on earth could you have married her?"

"I…."started he when all of a sudden his son came outside;"What is it,parker?"

"Mom's asking for you."answered parker as he walked back into the house;"She's upstairs,in her bedroom,with sage."

"I'll be there in a second."said his father and got up while he looked at molly;"All I want right now is for carly to get better again,molly,I really do."

"That is why she's coming to L.A. with rosanna and me for a while."answered she;"We'll help her get back to her old self."

Up in carly's bedroom sage was sitting on her bed and parker was standing in the corner when jack came in,feeling pretty uncomfortable because the last time he'd been up there was when he'd walked in on carly with craig;"Hey,you asked for me?"

"Yes,I wanted you to hear this too,jack,together with the kids."started his ex-wife hesitating;"I'm going with rosanna to molly's in L.A. for a while."

"Are you going away,mommy?"asked sage upset;"I don't want you to go!"

"Sage!"warned her brother her irritated;"This is what mom needs right now,so don't act like such a baby!"

"I'm not a baby!"answered she with tears in her eyes and put her arms around her mother;"Do you really have to go,mommy?"

"Yes,she does,princess,for a little while."said jack as he sat down on the bed too,taking over for carly when he saw that she was lost for words;"Your mother doesn't want to go and leave you guys alone,but she needs to do this for herself now and you guys can visit her in L.A. while she's gone."

"Can we,dad?"asked his son with a big smile;"Can we really go to L.A.?"

"Ofcourse sage,j.j. and you can all go downthere during school-break,parker,did you really think that your mother could live without you guys for even a second."smiled he and saw carly thanking him with one of her smiles that always made him tingle inside;"Besides,your mother will be back in no time."

"I will miss you,mommy."said sage softly as she hugged her mother;"Will you call me every day?"

"Ofcourse I will,sweety,every single day while I'm gone."answered carly and kissed her daughter on her forhead while she hugged her back;"I will miss you all so much."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

In the next couple of days rosanna and molly noticed that carly was getting more and more unedged,restless and cranky while they prepared their trip to molly's house in L.A.

Carly still had pretty bad headaches,due to her knocking her head up against the wall at metro that night when jack had found her there,drunk,and the urge to drink was getting worse,no matter how hard she tried to fight it as the stress to say goodbye to her kids for a while was building up and the looks that jack was sometimes giving her when he thought that she didn't notice as he came to bring or pick up the kids made her nervous and confused,but her sister and cousin refused to let carly out of their sight and there was no way she would be able to get her hands on alcohol with them around.

On her last evening in oakdale they had a goodbye-party with all of her friends and family,but in the middle of everybody having fun and making plans carly felt lost and pulled herself away from all of that as she went up to her bedroom,where she stayed laying under the covers,almost hiding from the rest of the world,when lily came into the bedroom;"What are you doing up here,carly,why aren't you downstairs?"

"I have a headache."said her friend lying,not wanting her friend to know that being downstairs with everybody while being so in need of a drink scared her and that she'd been on the verge of walking out the frontdoor to go to metro to get drunk;"I'll come downstairs in a few minutes or so."

"I'm gonna miss you."started lily slowly as she sat down on the bed;"I know that it's been a rocky road for us this past year and that at times it seemed like our friendship wouldn't survive what happened,carly,but even though we're still not back to where it was before I want you to know that if you ever need anything don't hesitate to call me and I want you to get better and back to your old self."

"Thanks,lily,that means a lot to me."answered she with a faint smile with tears in her eyes as they hugged;"I'm miss you too and I hope you will come down to L.A. sometime to visit while I'm away."

"Try and stop me."smiled her friend in tears;"It's gonna be okay again,carly,you'll see."

Out at the farm jack was sitting out on the porch,lost in old memories of him and carly when his aunt emma came outside and sat down next to him;"You look liked a troubled youngman."

"I'm hardly a youngman anymore,emma."said her nephew with a faint smile;"I'm fine."

"Are you really?"asked she and looked at him with those piercing eyes of her,making him feel that she could see right through him;"Are you really fine,jack?"

"Just because janet and I aren't really seeing eye to eye lately that doesn't mean that I'm not fine."answered jack;"It'll be okay."

"What about carly?"started his aunt slowly;"How do you feel about her going away,jack,how do you feel about her going to L.A. for a couple of months?"

"I know it's going to be hard on the kids having to miss their mom,but it's what carly needs right now and they can visit her."said he;"So it isn't the end of the world for them."

"That's not what I asked,jack,I asked you how you felt about it and I think I got my answer."answered emma with a strange smile;"Maybe this time apart from carly will do you as much as good as it will her and maybe it will teach you an important lesson."

"What's that suppose to mean?"asked her nephew annoyed as emma walked back into the house;"I'm fine with carly leaving,emma,do you hear me!"

"I do,but I don't believe it and deep down inside neither do you."said she through the window;"Use this time wisely,jack,it might be important to the rest of your life."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13…

Back in milltown the party was coming to an end and parker was getting something to drink from the kitchen when molly walked in;"Hey,parker."

"Hey."said he and turned around;"Mom looks tired."

"I know."started molly hesitating;"So,how do you feel about her leaving?"

"How do you think?"asked her cousin's firstborn irritated;"I'm not happy about it,molly,but I'm glad that somebody is doing something to help my mom because she isn't doing so good and I'm worried about her."

"She's gonna be okay,parker,I promise."answered she as she put her hand on his shoulder;"I know that it seems hard to believe right now with the state that your mother is in right now,but we're going to do every thing that we can to pull her through this."

"Do you really think that mom can ever recover from this?"started parker softly and molly could see the fear in his eyes;"My mom has always been a fighter and no matter what happened she'd always bounce back,but now it seems like she has lost the will to fight or something."

"Hey,it's gonna be okay again and your mother will bounce back from this too."promised his mother's cousin and gave parker a hug;"She will be okay again!"

Katie was laying in bed,where she had been trying to go to sleep for hours while the clock kept ticking away,when she heard brad coming up the stairs and going into the guestroom,so she got out of bed and walked straight up to the guestroom;"Why are you still sleeping here,brad,don't you think that you have punished me enough for speaking my mind?"

"You were doing more then just speaking your mind,Katie,you were down right cruel and unfair towards carly and it's what you didn't say that spoke volumes."answered her husband as he turned around;"Look,I just had a great evening at carly's going away-party and I'm not in the mood for another fight with you,so could you just go back to bed and we'll talk about this in the morning."

"Fine!"said she angry and stormed out of the guestroom;"Go to hell,brad!"

Out at the farm jack was laying in bed,also unable to sleep and thinking about having to say goodbye to his ex the next morning,when janet came into the bedroom,after working all night at al's,got into her pyama's and crawled into bed next to jack,putting her arm and him;"Hey,hansom."  
"Don't!"said jack softly when he felt janet's hand slowly moving from his stomach to his lower body and pushed her hand away;"I'm not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood lately!"answered his wife annoyed as she sat up straight;"Why is that,jack?"

"Don't make such a big deal about this!"started he tired;"I'm just not in the mood and I have a lot of things on my mind right now!"

"I can help you get your mind off things."suggested janet in a seductive way as she leaned in for a kiss and put her hands on jack's chest;"It's been a while since we've been close."

"I'm sorry,janet,but I'm really not in the mood right now."said her husband while he pulled away from her and got out of bed;"I just wanna go to sleep,so can you leave me alone or do I have to lay down in parker's room or something."

"Would you be saying the same thing if I was carly?"asked she angry and saw that she'd hit a nerve when jack,without saying another word and with a furious look on his face,stormed out of their bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was in the middle of the night,but carly just couldn't sleep no matter how tired she was.

The thought of leaving her house,the home that she and jack had spend so much time in and had some good as well as bad times in and where their kids had lived for most of their lives,for a few months was breaking her heart even though she knew that she would be coming back and that it wasn't the same like the time that she left with simon.

Walking down the stairs,through the livingroom and into the kitchen brought back a lot of memories,amazing memories of the kids as they were growing up as well as from her and jack together because beside the bad times they had also had some wonderfull times,and with a faint smile she thought of all the places she and jack had made love in through-out the house and that part of their relationship had always been perfect because all it would take was just one glance of jack to make her tremble or just hearing him say her name in his special way and the thought of it made her tremble even now although she was surprised that she was suddenly thinking of that.

Just as she walked back into the livingroom,after grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen,a shadow suddenly appeared through the frontdoor,scaring the hell out of her and she almost screamed when she saw who it was;"Damn it,jack,you almost gave me a heartattack!"

"Sorry,I used my old key because I didn't want to wake anybody up."said he,showed her the key in his hand and closed the door behind him;"I didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing here?"asked carly confused;"It's the middle of the night and everybody's asleep!"

"You're not."answered her ex-husband with a grin on his face as he came closer towards her;"Sorry,carly,I didn't mean to scare you and I have no idea what I'm doing here in the middle of the night."

"Jack…"started she hesitating;"Shouldn't you be at home,in bed with your wife?"

"I hate the fact that you're leaving,carly,I hate not seeing you for months and I know that it doesn't make any sense right now,but that's the way I feel."said jack tired as he sat down on the couch;"I'm sorry for doing this and you don't need this right now."

"You look exhausted."began his ex-wife worried while she sat down next to him;"Maybe you should go home."

"I don't want to go home."answered he softly,looking straight into her eyes and pressing away a string of hair that was infront of her eyes with his fingers,gently brushing her skin with his fingertops;"Do you remember how many times we just sat here on this couch,in eachother's arms?"

"Ofcourse I do."said carly with a faint smile;"How could I forget,G-man?"

Hearing carly calling him that stired something inside of jack and before he knew what he was doing jack leaned towards carly and his lips were on top of hers.

Totally thrown by the kiss carly's first reaction was to put her arms around his neck and kiss him back,which she did,but then she got to her senses and pushed jack away;"We can't do this!"

"I'm sorry."answered he surprised about his own actions and got up;"I should go."

"Jack…."called carly out to him as he reached the door on his way out and quickly walked up to him at the door,where she gently kissed him;"Goodbye."

"Goodbye,carly,take care of yourself."said her ex-husband,holding back the urge to lift her up into his arms and carry her to the bedroom,as he gently brushed her cheeck with his hand and walked out the door;"Bye."

"Bye,G-man."whispered she almost while she closed the door and leaned up against it,all kinds of thoughts running through her mind.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The next morning janet woke up early and after a quiet breakfast with only emma since jack was still asleep in parker and j.j.'s room she went straight to al's diner where henry was surprised to see her;"You're early,janet."

"I was awake anyway,so why not get in an early start."said she;"Where's Vienna?"

"Still asleep."answered her friend;"So,what's with the troubled face?"

"Nothing."started janet hesitating;"After today there will be no more trouble for the next couple of month and things can finally get back to normal,henry."

"Aha."said he,raising an eyebrow;"So the name of your current trouble is carly?"

"Isn't carly always trouble?"asked his friend annoyed;"But she will be leaving for a few months today and then I get my husband back again."

"I hate to wreck your party,honey,but just because carly will be gone doesn't mean that your troubles are over."warned henry her hesitating;"There's this connection between carly and jack that won't go away just because she has and I hate to say it,janet,but I saw this coming from a mile away eversince you said I do to mr. jack snyder because the same thing happened to my bubbles."

"What's that suppose to mean?"asked she angry;"Jack married me and not her,so if he's still into her then why did he marry me?"

"Why does jack keep doing that each time and still end up back with carly?"said her friend with a faint smile;"Guess only detective snyder can answer that one for you."

It was finally time for final goodbyes as carly,again,hugged parker,who was pushing her away;"You already did that like ten times,mom,it's not like we're never gonna see you again or something."

"I know."said his mother softly and brushed his hair with her hand;"I'm so gonna miss you all."

"Sorry,mom."answered parker quickly when he realized that he'd just upset his mother with his comment and made her remember the time she'd left with simon,a time that she really did think that she was never gonna be able to come back again,and gave her a hug;"I'm gonna miss you too."

"I wish you didn't have to go."cried his sister as she clung to her mother;"Promise me that you will call me every day and that you will write me and send emails,mom!"

"I will,sweetheart,I promise."said she with a faint smile and kissed her daughter on her forhead as she hugged her again too for like the tenth time;"But I'll be back before you know it."

"Are you ready?"asked molly as she came back from loading the bags into the cab;"We need to go."

"I'm almost ready."answered her cousin hesitating while she walked over to jack,who was standing at a distance,a bit uncomfortable;"Hey,G-man."

"Hey."said he and managed to break out a tiny smile as he took her hand into his;"I'm gonna miss you."

"I will miss you too."started carly hesitating as she put her arms around him and gave him a hug,trying to push back the tears;"But it won't be forever."

"It'd better not because I'll be coming down to L.A. to get you if it is,lady!"answered her ex-husband and gently kissed her cheeck;"Just focus on getting better and don't worry about anything else,carly,promise me!"

"I promise."said she with a faint smile while she let go off him and walked up to the cab;"Bye."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Time went by fast thought detective snyder as he walked into metro and sat down at the bar.

It had been almost three months since carly had left and a lot had happened since.

His kids had been down to L.A. for a few times to see their mother and she'd been in touch with them every single day,like promised,through phonecalls,emails and letters.

He hadn't talked to carly once since the day that they had said goodbye,mostly because rosanna had been on his case to leave carly alone while she was away and another reason was that he had been afraid that if he had talked to her he might have made things worse for her.

But molly and rosanna had kept him up to date on how carly had been doing and after a rough first two months,dealing with having to quit drinking all together and dealing with some issues,which both molly and rosanna had refused to tell him about,carly seemed to be slowly getting better again,taking it one step at the time.

Jack loved the fact that carly was on the road to recovery,but it also scared him because what if his ex-wife was also getting over him and finally moving on?

He knew that he didn't have any right to expect her not to and that a lot of carly's problems and the situation that she'd been in before she left were his fault because he had been such a jerk in moving on himself and keeping her from moving on too while he did nothing but judge her for every single thing she did wrong in his eyes,but these last few months had been a real eye-opener for him and there were certain things that he couldn't wait to talk to carly about.

Still deep in thoughts jack hadn't noticed henry putting a beer infront of him untill he gently shook his arm;"Hey,jack,a penny for your thoughts!"

"Hi,henry."said he with a faint smile as he looked up;"How's business?"

"We're doing pretty good."answered henry;"So,how's the ex-wife?"  
"Which one?"asked jack with a sarcastic smile;"I have so many these days that I kind of lost track,henry."

"I meant carly ofcourse."laughed he;"Have you talked to her?"

"According to rosanna and molly she's doing pretty good these days,but her watchdogs make sure that I don't get to talk to her."said jack;"But I'm happy that she's doing better because that's all that matters right now."

In L.A. carly was sitting on the beach,staring at the ocean,enjoying the peace and quiet when her cousin appeared and sat down next to her;"Hey,cuz."

"Hey."said carly without turning her head towards molly and kept staring at the water.

"Are you okay?"asked her cousin worried as she put her hand on carly's arm;"Carly?"

"I'm fine."answered she,finally looking at her cousin;"I just miss my kids."

"Just your kids?"laughed molly teasing,but stopped when she saw the sad look in carly's eyes;"I'm sorry,carly,me and my big mouth."

"I have my last session with sam tomorrow."started her cousin slowly,quickly changing the subject;"I can't believe I've been here for almost three months,molly,I was such a mess when I got here."

"But you're not anymore and you're okay now,honey,soon enough you'll be able to go home again."said she;"It's been great having you here all this time,even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances,and I'm really gonna miss you when you go home."

"I'm gonna miss you too."answered carly as they hugged;"I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for you and rosanna."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Back in oakdale Katie was sitting at the bar at the lakeview when Vienna sat down next to her;"Hi,sweety,sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry,Vienna,I just got here myself."said her friend;"Is henry working?"

"Yes,I don't get to see my henry much these because he's busy running metro with carly down in L.A."answered she;"It's no fun and I hope she gets back soon."

"Brad has been pretty busy lately too."started Katie slowly;"He's been keeping jack company a lot and helping him fix up the house in milltown,as a surprise to carly when she gets back."

"It's nice of him to help his brother out,Katie,but I take it that you don't really approve."

"It's not that I don't approve of him helping jack out,but why does it always have to be about her?"

"Are you two still fighting a lot?"asked her friend worried;"Or are things better,katie?"

"Well,atleast he's not sleeping the guestroom anymore and we're not really fighting,but things could be better between us."said she;"But atleast I'm better off then janet."

In milltown jack walked into carly's house,after spending some time at metro,and was surprised to find his oldest son still awake;"Hey,buddy,why aren't you asleep?"

"I was busy getting sage back to sleep after she woke up from a nightmare,dad,so I decided to wait up for you."answered parker;"Uncle brad called to say that he wouldn't be able to help out untill late afternoon tomorrow."

"That's okay,because I have to work anyway."said he;"Is sage okay?"

"She is now."started his son hesitating;"She really misses mom."

"We all do,parker,but it won't be long before she's home again."answered jack with a faint smile;"Rosanna said that they will be home in about two weeks or so."

"And then what?"asked he;"What will happen when mom gets back,dad?"

"I don't know what will happen,parker,all I know is that your mother is doing a lot better then she did when she left and that's all that matters right now,so let's just take things one day at the time."

"Did you tell aunt rosanna and molly?"said parker curious;"Do they know yet?"

"No,ofcourse not or else I wouldn't have told you guys not to say anything,because I couldn't risk them telling your mother and this is the last thing that she needs to hear right now."answered his father;"I just don't want to lay this on her right now and it wouldn't be fair either."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The next day jack was already up at the crack of dawn,sitting with a cup of coffee on out on the frontporch,when his daughter came outside;"Hi,daddy."

"Goodmorning,princess."smiled jack as she sat down next to him;"Your brother told me that you a nightmare lastnight,sweety,are you okay?"

"When is mommy coming back,daddy?"asked his daughter with a sad look in her eyes,a look he had seen like a thousand times in her mother's eyes too and made him have to swallow a few times before he was able to answer her.

"In about two weeks she'll be back,sweety,you know that."answered he as he put his arms around her and kissed her forhead;"That isn't that long."

"Does that make you happy too?"started sage hesitating;"Are you happy that mom's coming back again?"

"Ofcourse it makes me happy."said her father surprised about her question;"I'm really happy that your mother is well enough to come home soon enough and I'm sure that she has missed being with you guys a lot,sage,even though you guys have been there a few times."

A while later jack walked into the policestation and found janet waiting there for him;"We need to talk,jack!"

"No,we don't!"answered he annoyed;"I'm not in the mood to talk to you!"

"I don't care if you're in the mood!"said janet and grabbed his arm;"You made promises to me and I intended to make you keep them!"

"What are you talking about,janet,what promises?"

"These promises!"started she angry as she showed him her wedding-ring;"You promised to take care of me and you were gonna buy me a house and everything."

"Is that what this is about?"asked jack,trying to stay as calm as possible,and pulled away from her;"I'm not gonna buy you a house,janet,with what money?"

"You can always sell the house in milltown or take out another loan,jack,I don't care!"

"That's carly's house,janet,I can't sell that and even if I could I still wouldn't!"answered he angry;"If you want a house then get a loan yourself!"

"You'll be sorry for doing this and I will make you regret it!"warned janet him furious as she walked away;"That's a promise,jack snyder!"

In L.A. rosanna just got back from doing some shopping when she found molly alone in the livingroom;"Hey,where's carly,molly,isn't she back from sam yet?"

"Yes,she got back about twenty minutes ago,but she went for a walk straight away."said she;"It must have been some session,because she looked pretty upset when she got back."

"Then shouldn't we go after her or something?"asked rosanna worried;"What if…."

"No,rosanna,we can't go after her because it would seem like we don't trust her and that would only upset her even more,so we need to give her some space and she will come to us if she needs us!"

"You're right."started she with a faint smile;"Carly has come a long way since we got here and she can get through this."

"Ofcourse she can and in no time she'll be back home again,with her kids."answered molly;"Don't worry,rosanna,carly will be fine."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Carly was walking through the sand,thinking about what sam had asked her and was still unable to answer it.

Sam had looked at her towards the end of the session;"So,now the real question is : are you really over your ex now and ready to move on?"

"What kind of question is that?"asked carly a bit annoyed;"I have already moved on from jack because I could have gotten him back before he married janet,but i turned him down."

"That was only because you were scared to get burned again."said sam with a faint smile;"Come on,carly,you've been so honest here the whole time,so why are you lying to me now?"

"I'm not lying,sam,I'm telling you the truth and I don't like being called a liar!"

"You're fooling yourself if you think you can just go back and pick up where you left off without being totally honest with yourself and without making a decision to either move on from jack or go for it!"warned she her;"I'm not trying to upset you here or anything,but if you don't deal with this too then it will only be a matter of time before you end up right back where you were before you came here."

"In case you have forgotten,sam,he's married and even if I did want jack back I wouldn't go after him,because I don't do that anymore and I have learned to accept things for what they are."answered carly tired;"He's married!"

"But what if he wants you back too and is willing to end his marriage for you,carly?"asked her friend;"Will you push him away again because you're too scared that he will break your heart again or will you be able to trust him enough to give it a go?"

"I…."started she not sure what to say;"I don't know."

"Do you want to know what I think?"said sam with a faint smile;"I think that there is still a lot of unresolved things between you and jack,carly,if you ever really intend to move on with your life you need to resolve that first!"

Getting back with jack had always been what carly wanted more then anything,but after he married janet she'd finally accepted the fact that it was really over between them and that they would never get back together again,no matter how hard it was to accept it,but sam's words made her doubt herself again and made her question what she would do if it really did come to that.

Hearing sam's words inside her head again carly knew that it was time to stop being scared and that she had to face the truth and her own demons,even if it meant getting her heart crushed again.

In oakdale brad finally reached carly's house and found his brother sitting outside on the frontporch;"Taking a break?"

"Yeah."said jack looking up;"Do you want a beer?"

"No,not yet."answered his brother and noticed how upset jack was looking;"Are you okay,jack,do you wanna talk about it?"

"I'm fine,brad,I just had a rough day."started he with a faint smile and quickly changed the subject;"I hope we'll be able to finish everything up in time for carly to get back in a few weeks."

"How do you think carly will react when she comes back and sees what we have done to her house?"asked brad hesitating;"Don't you think that she might be mad at you?"

"What for?"said his brother surprised;"We only did this to help her to get the place fixed up a bit,which was long overdue."

"But maybe she didn't want you to do it,jack,maybe she will hate the fact that you did this without asking her first."

"I never thought of that,brad,I kind of started this little project without thinking of how carly would react and the thought of her getting mad at me for doing this never even crossed my mind."answered jack;"I was just to have something to keep me busy and in ways it was even comforting being here,fixing stuff up."

"Does carly know that you've stayed here almost the whole time that she's been away?"started he slowly;"Does she?"  
"No,ofcourse not and I will tell her when she gets back."said his brother;"I'm sure she won't mind because it was better for the kids."

"For the kids?"laughed brad;"Who are you trying to fool here,jack?"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Just after dinner jack and brad had gotten a lot of work done when emma brought back his kids;"Hi,guys,looks like you've working really hard."

"Hey,emma."smiled brad as he hugged her;"Yes,we did."

"Thanks for looking after the kids for a while."said his brother after emma had hugged him too and turned towards his daughter;"Go check out your room,princess."

"Is my room finished?"asked she surprised while she rushed up the stairs;"Cool."

"You look tired,jack,are you getting enough sleep?"started emma worried when she looked at her nephew;"Maybe you should stop trying to take so much on at once and take a step back."

"I'm fine,emma,don't worry."answered her nephew with a faint smile;"Besides,nobody ever died of hard work before,isn't that what you always told us?"

"Yes,I did."laughed she;"How else was I gonna get you boys to do your jobs around the farm?"

"Daddy!Daddy!Daddy!"came sage rushing down the stairs all excited and flew into his arms;"I love my room,daddy,thank you,thank you,thank you."

"Guess somebody here likes her room."smiled her brother teasing.

"I'm gonna start working on yours tomorrow,parker."promised jack as he looked at parker;"After that I will fix up j.j.'s room for when he gets back from boarding-school."

"Thanks,dad."said he and let himself getting pulled away by his sister to check out her room.

"So,what about carly's bedroom?"asked his uncle teasing while he looked at jack;"Are you gonna fix that up too?"

"Very funny!"answered jack with a faint smile;"Carly would kill me if I dared to touch anything in there!"

In L.A. rosanna was walking up and down the livingroomfloor,all unedged;"How can you even seriously be thinking about this?"  
"This is just something that I have to do!"said carly;"I know that you don't understand and I don't even understand it myself either,but if I don't do this I will never be able to really move on."

"But…."started her sister worried;"Carly…."

"If this is what you have to do then do it!"answered molly and turned towards rosanna;"Carly has to do what makes her feel good and what her heart tells her to do,rosanna."

"What if this ends up taking her right back to where she was three months ago?"asked she still not convinced;"What then?"  
"Then we will be there for her again just like we were now."said her sister's cousin with a faint smile and turned over to carly;"I'll back you up all the way,cuz!"

"Thanks,molly,I knew I could count on you."started carly softly before looking at rosanna;"I really need to do this,rosanna,please try to understand."

"I don't understand and I'm really worried about what it will do to you,but I'll back you up too anyway."answered her sister as she hugged carly;"Do what you have to do!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Janet was sitting at the bar at the lakeview,waiting for Katie,when craig walked in and sat down next to her;"Hello,mrs. Snyder.

"What do you want,craig?"asked she annoyed;"Are you bored now that your drunken bed-mate is gone?"

"Why is your husband staying at carly's?"started craig curious and saw the shocked look on her face;"You didn't know,did you?"

"I don't care what he does."answered janet quickly;"Besides,craig,how do you even know if he's staying there?"

"I drove past carly's house late lastnight,just to check up on it while carly's away,when I saw his car standing there,and today it was there again as I drove by."said he;"So why is he staying there?"

"If you want to know that then you should ask him,craig,not me because i don't know and I don't care what he does anymore!"

"Is it that badly between you two?"asked craig;"I knew you guys were having problems and that you moved out of the farm two months ago,but I didn't know that things were that serious."

"As far as I'm concerned jack snyder can rot in hell and I'm gonna take him for every cent he's got for taking me for a fool and leading me on!"answered janet angry;"I'm through with him,craig!"

"So does that mean that you're free for dinner?"smiled he;"A nice dinner at the lakeview with some great company tomorrow-night?"  
"Are you kidding me?"asked janet stuned;"Are you seriously asking me out?"

"Sure,janet,why not,you have to eat anyway,and it would be a great way to stick it to jack,because I'm sure you remember how jealous he got when he saw me with carly."

"Well,if you put it that way."smiled she;"Pick me up at seven."

"See you later."said craig as he got up and walked away;"I'll show you how a real man treats his date."

Back in Milltown the kids had all gone to bed and jack was exhausted,but still he didn't feel like going to bed,so he looked through the dvd's that were laying there and found their wedding-dvd from Montana just after sage was born.

He put it in the dvd-player and sat down back on the couch as he turned on the tv and couldn't help it smile when he saw him and carly all those years back on the big screen as the dvd began playing.

Watching those old memories made jack sad in a way because so much had happened since then and he wished that he could take some of it back.

Suddenly he heard a noise coming from the stairs and as he looked up he saw his little girl standing there;"What are you doing downstairs,honey,why aren't you asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep,daddy."started sage softly and jack could see that she'd been crying as she walked up to the couch and threw herself into his arms;"I miss mom."  
"I do too,honey."answered he while he put his arms around her;"Do you wanna watch this dvd with me of when you were just born and I married your mom?"

"I've already watched it like a million times with mommy,but I'll watch it again with you."said his daughter as she lay her head up against his shoulder;"This is one of mom's favourite dvd's."

"It's mine too and your mother looked beautyfull in that dress."smiled jack;"Then again she always looks beautyfull."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The next day jack woke up,realizing he was still laying on the couch,with sage in his arms,who was still asleep,and that they had fallen asleep there watching the dvd,so gently he got off the couch,trying not to wake up his daughter when parker came downstairs;"Hey,dad."

"Sssst,parker,your sister is still asleep!"warned he his son quickly as they both walked into the kitchen;"What are you doing up so early?"

"No special reason."answered his son and grabbed something out of the fridge;"I talked to mom lastnight before I went to bed."

"You did?"said jack curious;"How was she,parker?"

"She sounded good on the phone."started he slowly;"Mom said that she had a surprise for us today."

"What kind of surprise?"asked his father;"Did she say?"

"Ofcourse not or it wouldn't be a surprise now,would it?"laughed parker;"Mom said that she'd tell us her surprise later today,dad,so I guess we'll just have to wait untill then."

Out at the farm janet came by to get something that she'd forgotten when she ran into emma;"Goodmorning,emma."

"What are you doing here,janet,jack isn't here."answered she;"I'm sure you still have his number,so you can call him if you want something instead of coming all the way downhere for nothing."

"I just came to pick something up that I left behind."said janet annoyed when emma kept standing infront of the door so that she couldn't go up to jack's bedroom to get it;"You're in my way!"

"I will ask jack to call you when I talk to him and he can return to you whatever it is that you forgot up there if it's that important to you,janet,so run along now because I'm sure you have some cooking to do somewhere."

"What is your damn problem,lady,are you now suddenly against me and how come you don't mind carly walking in and out of here all the time?"

"I could try to explain that to you,janet,but I doubt if you'd be able to understand it."smiled emma;"You know your way out,don't you?"

"Tell jack to call me!"said she and walked away angry;"Today!"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Later that day jack,who'd taken the day off from work to start on his son's room,had been working on parker's room all morning and just before lunch he'd sat down on the couch to rest up a bit,but sitting there he'd fallen asleep.

Sound asleep he hadn't noticed somebody coming in through the frontdoor untill a gently hand shook him up untill,still half asleep,jack opened his eyes and thought he was still dreaming when he looked at the person infront of him;"You look gorgeous."

"Wake up,sleepy head."said carly with a faint smile when she saw him laying there,with a stupid grin on his face,and shook his arm again;"Jack!"

"What are you doing here?"asked he confused as he realized that he wasn't dreaming,but that carly was really standing infront of him;"I thought I was dreaming."

"I live here,jack,what's your excuse?"started his ex-wife curious;"What are you doing on my couch,asleep?"

"I…."began jack lost for words and quickly tried to change the subject;"What are you doing back,carly,you weren't suppose to get back for another two weeks and where is rosanna?"

"I'm right here,jack,carly wanted to come home early,so we took the first plane out here early this morning."smiled his ex-sister-in-law as she came out of the kitchen with three cups of coffee;"The kitchen looks great,jack,that must have cost you a lost of work."

"What are you talking about?"asked carly surprised as she walked away,towards the kitchen;"What did you do,jack?"

"I can explain."answered he,quickly following his ex as he got off the couch and saw he was in big trouble when he saw her face when they got into the kitchen;"It was suppose to be a surprise."

"What else did you do?"said his ex angry;"What other surprises are there,jack snyder?"

"I think it looks great."started rosanna laughing while carly came back out of the kitchen with jack behind her and put her arm around carly's shoulders;"Calm down,carly,it was a nice thing to do of jack and it looks great."

"You're right and it does look great,so thanks."answered she hesitating;"But please tell me what else you did and why you seem to have been really busy here."

"There were a few things that needed to be fixed up a bit and I thought it was a nice surprise to do it before you came back,but I didn't think you'd be home yet and it was suppose to be done before you did."said her ex-husband;"I'm sorry,carly,I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't and I'm sorry that I overreacted like this."answered carly with a faint smile and placed her hand on his arm;"Thanks again taking the time to do this,jack,it was really sweet of you."

"You're welcome."smiled he;"I also fixed up the backyard a bit,I did sage's room and I was just working on parker's room this morning before I fell asleep and I was gonna do j.j.'s room after that."

"Where did you find the time to do all that in between work,taking care of the kids and your wife?"asked his ex-wife surprised and noticed the strange look on jack's face;"Jack?"

"I had plenty of time and I enjoyed doing it,so don't worry about it."said jack quickly as he gave her a hug;"You look great,carly,I'm glad you're back and I've missed you."

"Thanks."started she worried when she felt that there was something that he wasn't telling her;"Is everything okay,jack,are you okay?"

"I'm fine and I really am glad that you're back and the kids will be thrilled too."answered her ex;"They have missed you so much."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Later that day carly was enjoying being home again and after an amazing reunion with her kids she was sitting on the couch,a bit thrown by all the attention,with sage on her lap when rosanna sat down next to her;"So,are you happy to be back again?"

"Ofcourse I am,rosanna,I've missed being here with my kids and in my own home so much."smiled her sister as she kissed sage on her forhead;"But now I'm back and I'm never leaving ever again."

"Daddy is happy that you're back too,mommy,this is the first time I've seen him smile like that in months."said sage;"Did you see my new room?"

"Yes,I did and it looks great,honey,your father has done a wonderfull job with fixing it up."started she hesitating;"Why hasn't your father smiled in months then?"

"Because you left."answered her daughter as she got up and walked away,leaving carly behind confused.

"Are you okay?"asked rosanna worried;"Carly?"

"I'm fine."said her sister with a faint smile and turned her head when she felt somebody was watching her and looked straight into jack's eyes,where she saw a look that was giving her chills down her spine and made her weak in the knees,but which also confused her,as they kept staring at eachother untill rosanna's hand on her arm brought her back to reality;"I said I was fine,rosanna."

"That's not what I asked."started she surprised as well as worried;"Maybe you came home too early,carly,maybe it was too soon and you weren't ready yet."

"I needed to come home."answered carly with a faint smile while she looked at jack,who was now talking to parker and laughing at one of his son's jokes;"This is where I belong."

At al's janet was waiting for her next customer to arrive when Katie came in;"Hi,janet,is it true that you're having dinner with my brother tonight?"

"Did craig tell you that?"asked she surprised;"Yes,it is."

"Why are you going out to dinner with him?"said Katie;"Are you doing it to get to jack?"

"So what if I am?"started her friend annoyed;"After everything jack has done to me it's about time I did something back to him and that's just the beginning."

"I hate to sound like a broken record,janet,but you could have avoided all this heartache if you had listened to me in the beginning."

"Like you would listen to anyone when you married jack?"asked janet;"Besides,it's her fault for doing her best to pull jack back into her claws every chance she got and this going away to get better-crap made him nuts and I'm sure that it was just what she had been waiting for,so she must be thrilled when she hears the news."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Jack was looking for carly to say goodbye,because he knew it was time for him to go home since he didn't have any right to stay there anymore and also because he didn't want to make things more complicated for her,as he ran into his son upstairs;"Hey,parker,have you seen your mother?"

"I saw her going into her bedroom about half-an-hour ago."said he;"It's awesome that she's home again,isn't it?"

"It sure is."answered jack as he walked up to carly's bedroom and knocked on the door a few times;"Carly?"

When there was no answer he opened the door and couldn't help it smile when he saw carly laying on the bed,asleep,so he sat down on the bed and placed the blanket over her so that she wouldn't get cold and gently kissed the top of her head when she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him;"Jack…?"

"I didn't mean to wake you up,honey,so just go back to sleep because you must be exhausted after such a busy day."smiled he and gently touched her cheeck with his hand,holding back the urge to kiss her like he used to;"I only came up to say goodbye,because I'm going back to the farm."

"Jack…."started carly hesitating as she grabbed his hand as he wanted to get up and stared right into his eyes.

"What…?"asked her ex and felt his heart skip a beat while she stared at him like that as all he could think about was jumping on the bed and making her his again.

"Thank you."said she with a faint smile and let go off his hand;"Thanks for everything you did."

"You're welcome."answered jack as he kissed her on the forhead again and walked away quickly because he knew he wouldn't be able to restrain himself any longer if he stayed;"Get some rest,carly,I will be back in the morning."

Downstairs jack ran into rosanna on his way out;"Bye,rosanna,see you tomorrow."

"Don't mess with my sister's head again,jack!"warned she him;"She might not recover from it next time!"

"I never meant to hurt carly and I know that I have made mistakes in the past,but I'm trying to do the right thing this time."answered jack;"I don't want to hurt her!"

"Then don't do this unless it's what you really want and you're willing to go for her all the way!"said his ex-sister-in-law and walked away;"She doesn't need another broken heart!"


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

At the lakeview lily was having dinner with her husband when she saw craig walking in with janet;"Oh,my god,looks like those two have found eachother."

"Who?"asked holden as he turned around and saw who his wife was talking about;"She does seem to have a thing for carly's rejects."

"Holden!"warned his wife him irritated;"That isn't funny and jack was never carly's reject."

"Wonder if jack know about those two suddenly taking an interest in eachother."started he curious;"Why do you think that is?"

"That's obvisious,holden,craig is just looking for his next victim and janet wants to try and stick it to jack because she knew how jealous he got of carly spending time with craig,but that's not gonna work because she's not carly."answered lily;"Her plan isn't gonna work,not if I can help it!"

"Stay out of this and let jack worry about her,lily,I mean it!"said her husband worried as he saw the look in lily's eyes and remembered that a look like that usually means trouble;"What she does is her business and not yours!"

"It will be my business if she ends up hurting carly and she will in the end,so I need to make sure she doesn't get chance too because carly has been through enough."started she and saw the surprised look on holden's face;"I know things have been strange between me and carly because of you two sleeping together,but she's still my friend."

Carly was sitting out on the frontporch,enjoying being back in her own home,as she heard her kids and rosanna inside,teasing eachother and laughing,when parker came outside too;"Hey,mom."

"Hey,sweety."smiled carly as he sat down next to her and hugged him again;"I'm so happy to be home again."

"So are we."answered her son,rolling his eyes at her for getting yet another hug from his mother;"Even if you are trying to hug me to death,mom."

"Get used to it."laughed she and kissed him on her forhead;"I missed you guys so much."

"We missed you too."smiled parker;"We really did."

"What's going on with your father?"asked his mother suddenly a bit curious;"He seemed to have spend a lot of time here with you guys,parker,so was janet okay with that?"

"You'd have to ask dad that,mom,I didn't really talk to janet that much."answered he quickly and got up because he knew that if his mother kept asking those kind of questions that she'd find out the truth from him and it wasn't his place to tell her;"I'm going to play some games in my room."

"Sure,sweety,have fun."said carly surprised about the way her son had kind of avoided really answering her question and the way he'd quickly left as if he didn't want to her to find out something;"I'll be in in a minute."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Out at the farm jack had been in a bad mood all evening when his aunt sat down next to him at the kitchentable;"For a man who's thrilled that the mother of his children is back in town you don't look so happy."

"I am happy,emma,I love that carly is back."answered her nephew hesitating;"I really do."

"But….?"asked she curious;"Why are you sitting here then with such a long face instead of being there with carly and your kids in milltown?"

"I don't have a right to be there,because we're not together and I'm still married."said jack tired;"Besides,rosanna already warned me not to mess with carly's head again and that she might not survive getting her heart broken again."

"Are you going to break her heart again,jack,is that what you're planning to do?"

"Ofcourse not,emma,I never meant to do that."started he slowly;"Things are just so complicated right now and I don't want to lay any of that on carly,so it's better if I stay clear of her."

"Better for who?"asked emma with a faint smile;"I think carly is stronger then you think and maybe you guys need to have a real talk to see where you both stand instead of acting like a scared little chicken."

"I'm not acting like a scared chicken,emma!"said her nephew annoyed;"I'm not!"

"Then stop hiding behind a lot of empty words and do what you need to do,jack snyder,before it's too late!"warned she him as she got up and walked away;"The woman's not gonna wait around for you forever!"

Rosanna was sitting on the couch when carly came back downstairs from saying goodnight to her kids and sat down next to her;"I've really missed this."

"How are you feeling?"asked rosanna worried;"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."answered her sister as she hugged rosanna;"You don't need to worry about me so much anymore,rosanna,i'm really fine."

"I will always worry about you,honey,always."started she hesitating;"How was it to see jack again?"

"Confusing and wonderfull at the same time."said carly with a faint smile;"I know that you're worried that being around jack again will make me reach for the bottle again,but you don't have to worry about that and I'm stronger now then I was before,so I'm gonna be just fine and sam made me see a lot of things more clearly."

"I know you've worked really hard to get where you are now and I'm so proud of that,carly,but I'm just scared that you might end up getting your heart broken again."answered her sister;"I just want what's best for you and what makes you happy."

"I am happy and you don't have to worry about jack breaking my heart again because he's married and I have accepted that because I want him to be happy."said she softly with a sad glances in her eyes;"I just want jack to be happy,even if that means that I have to let him go and move on without him ."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The next morning carly was having breakfast with her sister when sage came downstairs;"Goodmorning,honey,are you ready for school?"

"Do I really have to go to school?"asked sage surprised;"I thought that we'd be staying home today to spend the whole day with you,mommy."

"Nice try,younglady,but no such luck and you're going to school!"laughed she and pulled sage into her arms;"Hey,I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere."

"I had to try."smiled her daughter;"You're much harder to fool then daddy."

"Your dad is a sucker for a sweet face."said carly with a faint smile;"He can almost never refuse his little girl anything,sage,you know that."

"I really missed you,mommy,but having daddy here helped and it made me feel a bit better and i think it made daddy feel better to be here because he has missed you too."answered she and walked away;"I'm going to get my stuff for school."

"Carly?"asked rosanna worried when she saw the confused look in carly's eyes;"Hey,don't assume anything before you talk to jack and you don't know if sage just meant that they stayed here for a weekend or something."

"If he dared to stay here with janet then I'm going to kill him,rosanna!"started her sister angry as she got up;"They had no business being here in my house and up in my bedroom!"

"Calm down,honey,please!"begged she worried when she saw that carly was getting all worked up and got up too;"I will drop the kids off at school and you can do something that will calm you down,carly,so please don't go off the deep end and wait untill you get a chance to talk to jack."

Jack was getting ready to leave for the policestation when lily walked in;"Goodmorning,jack."

"Hey,lily."said he looking up;"So,have you talked to carly yet?"

"I talked to her this morning and she sounded happy to be back."answered his friend;"How did she seem to you when you saw her yesterday?"

"She looked amazing."smiled jack when he saw the worried look in lily's eyes;"Really,lily,this time away has really done carly a lot of good and I think she's doing a lot better."

"Good,jack,I'm glad to hear that."started she hesitating;"I saw janet at the lakeview lastnight,with craig."

"So?"asked her friend;"I couldn't care less who she hangs out with."

"Have you told carly yet,jack,does she knows what has been going on while she was gone?"

"Ofcourse not,lily,she just got back and I didn't want to lay that all on her."

"You're scared."said lily;"You're just scared of what will happen if you do tell her or should I say what won't happen,jack,you're scared that this time away has made carly really move on from you."

"Why does everybody keep saying that?"answered he angry;"I'm not scared!"

"Because it's the truth and you're a fool!"started his friend with a faint smile as jack walked out the door.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Just before lunch rosanna was at the lakeview when she ran into her ex-husband;"Hello,rosanna,I had no idea that you were back."

"There was no need for you to know,craig."said she;"You're not on my list of people to call."

"So does this mean that carly is back too?"asked her ex;"How is carly?"

"Yes,carly is back and she's doing great,but you're going to leave her alone!"started rosanna annoyed;"Do you hear me,craig!"

"I didn't know that you were appointed as carly's bodyguard."laughed he;"I will leave her alone when carly tells me to leave her alone!"

"I'm sure she will,craig,now that the alcohol is out of her system and she will see you for what you really are."answered his ex-wife;"Besides,haven't you found yourself a new victim by now?"

"I guess carly won't need me anymore now that detective-know-it-all is available."said craig;"He must be thrilled that she's back,rosanna."

"What are you talking about?"asked she confused when craig walked away;"Craig!"

"Go and ask detective snyder if you really want to know."smiled her ex as he walked off;"Let him fill you in on the juicy details."

Carly was doing some shopping when she ran into janet;"Hello,carly,I see that you're back again."

"Hi,janet."said she and turned around;"Yes,I'm back."

"You must be so excited that your little plan has worked."started her ex-husband's wife;"I hope you're satisfied."

"Satisfied with what?"asked carly confused;"I have no idea what you're talking about and frankly I don't give a damn either,janet."

"Don't act all innocent with me,because I know what a sneaking little bitch you are!"answered she furious and pushed carly;"This was your plan all along!"  
"Keep your hands off me!"warned she janet and tried to stay calm;"I don't know what your problems is,but don't push me!"

"You have messed with the wrong woman!"yelled her ex-husband's wife going totally nuts as she pushed carly again;"You're gonna pay for this!"

"Enough is enough!"said carly as she suddenly took a swing at janet and hit her against her jaw,making her fall backwards;"I warned you not to touch me again!"

"Hey!"said parker as he suddenly came rushing towards them and got infront of his mother as he looked at janet;"Leave my mother alone,janet!"

"She hit me!"answered she still angry and got up again;"She's a…."

"Shut up or I will hit you!"warned parker her angry and pulled carly away from janet with him;"Come on,mom,let's go home because she isn't worth it!"


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Back at the house parker first went to make his mother some tea as she sat down on the couch and then came back into the livingroom with a worried look on his face as he gave her the cup;"Are you okay,mom,do you want me to call aunt rosanna or something?"

"No,you don't have to call your aunt and I'm not gonna fall apart each time something happens,parker,I promise."said carly with a faint smile;"Besides,you were right,honey,that woman isn't worth it and I have no idea what came over her or what her problem was."

"Maybe she's been cooking one meal too many."answered he uncomfortable and felt relieved when the doorbell rang and he saw jack standing there as he opened the door;"Hey,dad."

"Hey,buddy."started jack and looked at carly while he walked in;"Hey,carly,I heard about what happened."

"She sure didn't waist any time telling you,jack,did she?"asked his ex-wife irritated;"If you're gonna yell at me for punching her then I'm gonna punch you too!"

"Hold on,carly,calm down because I'm not here to yell at you or anything and I'm sorry for what she did to you!"said he and couldn't help it smile at the look of his fisty ex wife who sat there on the couch with fire in her eyes;"Besides,Janet didn't tell me."

"Then who did?"answered carly confused;"If janet didn't tell you and I certainly didn't then who did?"

"I did."started her son hesitating;"I called dad while I was in the kitchen,making tea for you."

"I'm glad that he did,because I think that there are a few things that you need to hear from me."said jack;"Janet and I broke up,carly,i'm in the middle of the divorce."

"What?"asked she shocked;"Is it because of me,jack,is that why she's so mad at me?"

"No,don't even think that,honey,my divorce isn't your fault and you did nothing wrong!"answered her ex quickly as he sat down next to her on the couch,held her hand into his and looked her straight in the eyes;"No matter what janet might think I'm the reason why we're getting a divorce and it's in no way your fault,so don't let her or anybody else make you believe that because it isn't true!"

"But…?"started carly confused and still in shocked;"What happened,jack,I thought…."

"Why don't we talk about that in a little while."said he with a faint smile and got up as he looked at his watch;"I'm gonna pick up sage from school while you stay here with parker and relax for a while,carly,we'll talk later and I'll tell you everything that you want to know."

When jack came back with sage carly was sitting out on the porch and sage rushed to her mother's side;"Hi,mommy,I missed you."

"I missed you too,sweety."answered she;"Why don't you go inside and ask your brother to fix you something to drink,sage,I need to talk to your father."  
"Is daddy in trouble for staying here with us while you were away?"asked her daughter worried;"You're not mad at him,are you?"

"I'm not mad at your father."said carly and looked at jack after sage had gone inside;"You stayed here the whole time I was gone,jack,what else don't I know about yet?"

"I didn't stay here the whole time,carly,I only moved in about two or three weeks after you left."started he with a faint smile,trying to joke about it as he sat down next to her on the bench,but saw he failed terribly when carly looked at him not so amused;"The kids were upset about you being gone and moving in here with them seemed like the right thing to do."

"What about your marriage to janet?"asked his ex-wife hesitating;"Do you still expect me to believe that it wasn't partly my fault with me going away for a few months and leaving you behind to take care of the kids?"

"No,I already told you that it wasn't your fault and I don't want you to think that it was,carly,I mean it!"answered jack;"It was my fault and my fault alone,honey,it was a mistake to begin with and I shouldn't have married her!"

"Why not?"said she softly and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the look in his eyes;"Why,jack?"

"Because I married her for all the wrong reasons."started her ex-husband with a faint smile as he took her hand into his;"I didn't love her like i…."

"Like you what?"asked carly as she staring into jack's eyes,feeling hypnotized and it was as if nothing else exsisted but them right there and then as she felt her knees get weak when she already saw the answer in his eyes and saw him leaning in closer slowly and hesitating.

"Mommy!Daddy!"yelled sage suddenly from inside and came rushing out of the house,breaking the spell between jack and carly as they quickly both sat up straight;"Parker is being mean!"

"You're just a little baby running off to tell mom and dad!"said her brother irritated as he came in the door way;"I didn't do anything,sage!"

"Yes,you did!"answered she angry and ran back into the house,followed by her brother;"You were being mean!"

"Kids!"laughed jack as he got up after leaning closer to carly and whispering into her ear before he walked back into the house;"We'll finish this talk later."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

At al's janet was working when Katie walked in with Vienna and henry and saw the bruise on janet's jaw;"Omg,what happened to you?"

"Carly did this to me!"answered her friend;"She hit me."

"Why?"asked henry surprised;"What did you do,janet?"

"I didn't do anything."said she angry;"I was just telling her how I felt about her and then she just slugged me."

"Are you okay?"answered Vienna worried;"That looks bad,honey,you should have a doctor look at that."

"Vienna!"laughed her man;"It's just a bruise and she doesn't need to see a doctor for that."

"Do you know who she should see!"said she irritated;"She should go to the policestation and press charges against carly."

"Yes,that's what she should do!"started Katie as she got up and pulled janet with her;"I'm taking you to see margo!"

"Hold on!"answered henry and stopped them;"This is a stupid idea and totally insane,ladies,do you really think that pressing charges against carly is the way to go?"

"I think that it's a great idea."smiled janet;"I'm going to do it!"

Rosanna was surprised to find jack in carly's house when she got back,so she pulled carly aside the first chance she got;"What's going on,carly,why is jack here and doesn't he have a wife to go to or something?"

"No,it seems that they are in the middle of a divorce and appearently jack has stayed here in this house for almost the entiry time I was gone."started her sister surprised when rosanna didn't seemed shocked about the divorce;"Did you already know?"

"Not really."answered rosanna;"Craig made a strange comment when I ran into him at the lakeview and now it makes sense,carly."

"He says that he never should have married her."said she softly;"Is it bad of me to be happy about this and to enjoy hearing jack say that?"

"Ofcourse not,sweety,I would have jumped through the roof and told him: I told you so."laughed sister;"I really would have."

"I just don't know what to make of it and I guess I'm still being a bit carefull because he's broken my heart so many times and we didn't get a chance to finish our talk about his divorce and everything yet because the kids interrupted us,but jack wants to finish our talk later."started carly hesitating;"I was ready to move on because I thought his marriage made him happy,but now…"

"Just be carefull and take it one step at the time,carly,don't rush into anything and talk about things first!"said rosanna;"If jack is what you really want and you guys can find a way to work things out then go for it,carly,I'm happy as long as you're happy."

"Hey,ladies."smiled her ex-brother-in-law as he came up to them;"I just got called to the policestation,so I'll be back in a little while if that's okay with you,carly."

"Ofcourse it is."answered she with a faint smile;"See you later."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Twenty minutes later jack walked into the policestation and went straight to margo;"Hey,margo,you wanted to see me?"

"Yes,I did."started she hesitating;"Your wife was in here a little while ago."

"Janet?"asked jack surprised;"What did she want?"

"She wanted me to arrest carly."answered his friend;"For attacking her,jack."

"What?"said he shocked;"Is she nuts or something?"

"Janet did have a huge bruise on her jaw,but I told her to sleep on it for a night and that she could come back in the morning to file a rapport if she was still serious about pressing charges again carly."started margo slowly;"I also told her that even if she did press charges that the chances of carly really getting arrested would be close to zero and that the D.A. probably wasn't gonna take it seriously."

"I can get that janet is mad at me for wrecking our marriage,margo,but to go after carly like that is….!"began her friend furious;"I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!"

"No,you're not,jack,you're going to stay away from her as far as possible and you're gonna tell carly to do the same,because we don't want anymore wild west stories!"warned she him worried;"Just try to ignore the woman!"

"I will try!"answered jack;"But if she keeps harassing carly,which she was doing earlier today when carly punched her,I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!"

Back at al's the wicked witches of oakdale were releasing their bad moods on henry,who took it like a true gentleman as always;"I'm sorry it didn't work out like you ladies had hoped,but I kind of told you that up front."

"Shut up,henry!"said Vienna annoyed;"Why does carly always get away with everything?"

"She doesn't always get away with everything."answered he;"The woman has been through hell this last year,so give her a break!"

"Since when are you so pro-carly?"asked Katie angry;"Oh,god,don't tell me that she's got you under her spell too?"

"Hey,nobody but my lovely Vienna has got me under her spel,bubbles!"said her friend with a faint smile;"I've got to know carly pretty well with the whole cowboy jack thing and after that with working together at metro,so I'm sorry to say this,ladies,but she isn't the witch that you all take her for."

"Traitor!"answered she and pulled janet and Vienna away with her;"Let's go,ladies,let's find somewhere nicer and with less traitors."


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

As soon as jack walked back through the door at carly's she knew something was up,but since the kids were in the room with them she couldn't ask him what was wrong,so carly decided to wait.

After a while sage got tired and decided to go upstairs while parker decided to go out to a friend's house for a while and rosanna,ofcourse pretty obvisious to the fact that carly and jack still had to finish their talk,made sure she disappeared as well soon enough.

As carly went upstairs to put sage to bed jack sat down on the couch,waiting for her to return when after a while she did and sat down next to him;"What's wrong?"

"Why do you think there's something wrong?"asked her ex trying to look as innocent as a new born baby;"We still need to finish our talk."

"Not untill you tell me what happened at the policestation,jack!"said carly as she saw the answer written all over jack's face,because he had always been an open book to her;"The call was about janet wasn't it?"

"It was nothing and I took care of it!"answered he lying;"Just calm down,carly,there's nothing for you to worry about!"

"Hearing you say that makes me worry even more,jack snyder,so out with it!"warned his ex him annoyed;"What did she want?"

"It was margo who called me and it seems to janet tried to get you arrest for punching her or as she called it assaulting her,carly,but don't worry because margo got her to sleep on it and she also said that the D.A. probably wasn't gonna take it serious anyway."answered jack and was surprised when carly got up;"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?"asked she angry while she grabbed her purse when jack stopped her;"Let go off me,jack!"

"No,I'm not,because if I do you're probably gonna go overthere and kill her."started her ex as he held her arms while he couldn't help it but feel turned on by the fisty look in carly's eyes and had to restrain himself from ripping her clothes off and taking her there and then;"You need to calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"said carly furious and tried to pull away from him;"Damn it,jack,let go off me!"

"I can't."answered he,staring into her eyes as he put his arms around her body,pulling her closer,and he felt the sexual tension in the room rising as their bodies touched;"I've missed you."

"Jack…"began his ex,confused as well as just as turned on as he was,as she stared back into his eyes,not able to look away while jack gently touched her face with his fingertips,pushing away a string of hair that was infront of her eyes,making her weak in the knees;"I…."

"I'm sorry."said jack with a sigh while he let her go and pulled away as he ran his fingers through his hair,realizing that he was on the verge of doing something that wasn't fair to his ex-wife;"Do you want some more coffee,carly?"

"No,I don't want more coffee."replied she stuned about what had just happened and felt confused when jack suddenly walked up to the frontdoor;"Where are you going?"

"You look tired,carly,maybe you should go to bed and I need to go back to the farm."answered her ex as he quickly walked back,kissed carly on her cheeck and left while he was still able to restrain himself;"I'll see you tomorrow."

The next morning carly woke up in her bed to her surprise and confused she went downstairs where she got an even bigger surprise when she found jack in her kitchen,making breakfast;"What are you doing here,jack?"

"Making breakfast."answered he;"Do you still like your eggs over easy?"

"Ofcourse."started carly hesitating;"Why are you here?"

"I still have to finish up a couple of things in parker's room and start on j.j.'s room,carly,I promised the boys that I would and I want it all to be ready before j.j. comes home from boardingschool."said her ex;"Do you want some coffee?"

"Jack….."replied she softly;"Why are you really here?"

"Why would I be here for another reason?"asked jack with a fake smile and gently pushed carly out of the kitchen;"Go and sit down,honey,I will bring you some coffee and your breakfast in a minute."

"And then you're gonna tell me the truth,jack Snyder!"answered his ex-wife a bit irritated while she sat down on the couch when rosanna came down the stairs;"Goodmorning,rosanna."

"Goodmorning."smiled she,but her smile froze when jack came out of the kitchen;"What are you doing here?"

"He came to finish up parker's room and start on j.j.'s."began carly with a suspicious look at jack;"Or so he says."

"Oh,really?"replied her sister;"That's nice of you,jack."

"What can I say."laughed he,giving carly her breakfast and coffee before walking back into the kitchen again;"I'm a nice guy."

"Why is he really here?"asked rosanna curious as she sat down next to carly on the couch;"Carly?"

"How should I know?"answered her sister with a sigh;"He told me the same thing that he told you,rosanna,so I don't know anymore then you do."

"Just be carefull."warned she carly with a worried look;"You just came back and i don't want to see you get hurt."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

A few hours later craig was waiting for his lunchdate when janet showed up;"I have no idea why I'm doing this,craig,but here I am."

"You're here because you have to have lunch anyway and I'm such good company."smiled he;"That's some bruise you've got there."

"I know and I've got carly to thank for that."answered janet;"I tried to get margo to arrest her for it,after Katie suggested it,but she told me to sleep on it and she also said that the D.A. probably wouldn't go ahead with it anyway."

"You tried to get her arrested?"laughed her friend stuned;"Are you serious,janet?"

"She attacked me!"said she annoyed about craig making fun of her;"Do you find that funny?"

"Ofcourse not,but to have her arrested for slapping you?"smiled craig;"Don't you think that you're overreacting a bit?"

"She did more then just slapping me,craig,did you see the bruise?"asked his friend angry;"It still hurts."

"All I'm saying is that you're not getting anywhere by trying to have her arrest."answered he;"It's not gonna work!"

Enjoying her time alone at home,giving her a chance to rethink everything that had happened since she'd been back,carly was sitting on the couch,thinking about her and jack when the doorbell rang and when she opened up she saw lily standing there;"Hi,carly,is this a bad time?"

"No,come on in."smiled she happy to see her friend and let her into the house;"Do you want something to drink?"

"No,I'm fine,thanks."answered lily as they both sat down on the couch;"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty good."said her friend;"Better then I was doing three months ago."

"That must have been pretty rough on you,carly,so are you all cured now?"

"If you mean to ask me if I'm not drinking anymore then yes,lily,I'm not drinking anymore."started carly with a faint smile;"It was pretty rough the first two months,because I so needed a drink and talking to sam didn't make things better at first either."

"Who's sam?"asked she surprised;"Somebody special that you met downthere in L.A.?"

"You could say that."answered her friend;"Sam helped me through a lot of issues that I was dealing with and it made me finally get past the urge of having to drink and get better again."

"So,how about jack?"started lily curious;"Did he tell you about what has been going on here,carly?"

"He hasn't told me everything yet,but he did tell me about him and janet breaking up."said she;"I really didn't see that coming."

"I did."smiled her friend and laughing when she saw carly's confused face;"Come on,carly,no matter who you guys are with you two always end up back together again,so why should this time be any different?"


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

After a great afternoon with lily carly was about to pick up sage when jack showed up on her doorstep;"Hey,jack,I was just on my way out."

"I know and that's why I'm here."said he and gently pushed carly back into the livingroom;"I asked emma to pick up sage and take her out to the farm,because I thought we needed to talk about a couple of things."

"You did?"asked his ex-wife stuned while she sat down on the couch;"And what about parker?"

"He's already at the farm,so we have the whole place to ourselves."smiled jack with a wink and saw the annoyed look on carly's face as he sat down too,next to her;"Relax,carly,it was just a joke."

"Okay then,jack,let's talk."answered she softly,not sure if she wanted to hear what he had to say;"What happened between you and janet?"

"What always happens."started her ex-husband hesitating as he took carly's hands into his;"I realized that i was doing nothing more then run away from my true feelings and it didn't work,because it never does and I'm done running."

"Running from what?"asked carly not able to look down from jack's stare;"What were you running away from,jack?"

"From my feelings for you,carly,from us and from what was meant to be."said he;"You were right all along and I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"Then why did you,jack,why did you make me think that we were never going to be together again and that what you had with janet was finally what you really wanted?"

"I was a fool and I guess I was scared when we started to get closer again."

"Scared of what?"answered his ex-wife;"Of me?"

"Of having my heart broken again."started he hestitating and hated to see the look in her eyes,but he knew it finally had to be brought out in the open and they had to have this talk because it was driving him insane being so close to carly and not being able to touch her or anything;"Of something happening to mess everything up again."

"So you decided to marry janet to get peace!"said carly suddenly angry as she pulled away from jack and got up;"Was it worth it,jack,was the peace that she gave you worth it seeing me going through hell?"

"That isn't fair,carly,I never meant to hurt you!"answered her ex while he got up too and tried to grab her hand when she pulled away again;"Carly…."

"I had given up on you and on us,jack,I thought things were really over between us and I had finally accepted it without having to need a drink at the thought of never being with you like that ever again!"started she,ignoring the hurt look in his eyes because all she wanted to do at that point was hurt him like he had hurted her,furious and grabbed her keys;"Now you come here and suddenly tell me that we do belong together and that I was right all along and that's suppose to make everything allright again and I'm suppose to just say okay,jack and jump into bed with you?"

"I know it doesn't make it allright and I'm sorry for everything that I put you through."said jack worried as he saw carly walking up to the frontdoor;"Where are you going?"

"Out,jack,I need to think!"answered his ex-wife as she rushed out the door,leaving jack behind feeling sad and worried;"Just leave me alone!"


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Hours later jack had been waiting for carly to return and he had even tried her cellphone a few times when rosanna came back;"There's no sign of her anywhere,jack,I even checked the bars.

"Do you really think that….?"asked he worried;"Oh,god,I hope that it isn't true,rosanna,I would never forgive myself if that is true!"

"What on earth would were you thinking anyway having that kind of talk just when she got back?"started his ex-sister-in-law angry;"That was so selfish!"

"I had to tell carly about my divorce to janet after she'd had that run in with her and I didn't want to lie to her about why we broke up or how I feel about her,rosanna,I didn't do it to hurt her or anything and do you have any idea how crazy I have been going these last three months,after I realized what I damn fool I have been for all this time and not knowing if I had lost her forgood because of my own stupidity?"answered jack tired as he grabbed his keys;"I'm gonna look for her again."

"Where do you want to look,jack,I have already been everywhere!"said she and stopped him;"Let's just stay here and maybe she'll be back soon enough."

"I don't know where I'm gonna look,rosanna,but I just can't sit here and do nothing."said her ex-brother-in-law softly and walked out the door;"I will call emma and ask her to keep sage there a little longer."

At craig's hotelroom janet was walking up and down the floor;"I don't know why I let you talk me into this!"

"Because you know I'm right and this guy is the best."promised craig;"With him in your corner you will be able to get jack just where you want him,janet,I promise."

"Why are you doing this for me?"asked she suspicious;"What do you get out of it?"

"Let's just say that I'm being friendly."laughed her friend;"Don't question my motives,janet,just accept my generous and friendly offer and trust me when I tell you that if you want to stick it to detective know-it-all that my friend is the right man for the job."

"I will take your word for it."smiled janet as she put her arms around craig's neck and kissed him;"Thank you,craig."


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

While jack was out looking for his ex-wife rosanna was waiting back at the house and she was just talking to molly on the phone when carly walked in;"Hi."

"She just walked in,so I'll call you back later."said her sister to molly on the phone and hung up as she turned towards carly;"Where have you been,carly,do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Where's jack?"asked she looking around;"Isn't he here?"

"He left to go look for you again."answered rosanna;"We were so scared…"

"That I'd get drunk again."started her sister with a faint smile;"It's not like the thought didn't cross my mind,rosanna,but I didn't and I'm not going to either,so you can just relax."

"Are you okay?"said she still worried as she saw how pail carly was looking;"You look exhausted."

"I am and no,I'm not okay."answered carly;"I suppose jack told you about our talk?"

"Yes,he did and I already scolded him for having that kind of talk with you just coming home from L.A."started her sister hesitating;"He's scared to death that you've finally moved on from him,honey,that he doesn't have chance of getting you back again."

"He deserves that!"answered she angry;"After everything that I have been through it's about time that he felt what I have felt too!"

"It's okay to be mad at him,carly,but don't let it cloud your judgement and I think that maybe jack has already suffered more then you think."said rosanna;"Just let this all sink in and then maybe you guys can talk again."

"Maybe."started her sister tired as she walked up the stairs;"I'm going to lay down for a while."

At yo's brad was sitting at the bar when his brother sat down next to him;"Hey,brad."

"Hey,jack."said he and noticed the sour look on his brother's face;"So,what's wrong?"

"Carly's angry with me and I probably ruined any chance I had left with her."started his brother tired;"Me and my big mouth."

"I've been trying to tell you that you have a big mouth for years,but you never listen to me,bro."laughed brad teasing;"What did you do this time,jack?"

"All I did was be honest with her,brad,nothing more and she got so furious with me."answered he;"I thought that this talk,getting everything out in the open would bring us closer and give us a fresh start,brad,I guess I'll never understand women."

"I haven't met one man that can yet."smiled his brother;"Maybe you should give carly some time and space,man,she just got back after being away for three months and she's been battling her alcohol-problem,which can't have been easy,and dealing with a lot of stuff,so you can't expect her to just be all excited that you suddenly want her back and you need to back off untill she's ready."

"I've been waiting for three months for carly to come back and being able to tell her how I feel,brad,so how much longer do you want me to wait?"asked jack irritated;"A month?Six months?A year?"

"This isn't about you,jackass,this is about carly,who is trying to get her life back on track again and the last thing she needs is some horny,selfish ex pushing her about the fact that he has now decided that he wants her back again!"answered he;"I don't care if you have to wait two years,bro,if you don't give carly the time that she needs then you will lose her without a doubt!"


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

At the lakeview craig and janet were celibrating with champagne when tom walked in with margo and janet walked up to them,looking at tom,as she gave him a business-card;"This is my new lawer,tom,so everything will go through him now."

"Oh."said he surprised as he read the card;"So,you seems to mean business."

"I sure do."laughed janet as she walked away;"Jack won't know what hit him."

"I used to like that woman,but now…."started margo annoyed and saw the worried look on tom's face;"What's wrong?"

"I know the lawer that janet has now hired,margo,he's a real shark and he cleans out the ex's for clients,so jack might end up with nothing when janet's lawer is finished with him."answered her husband;"But he's also expensive,so I wonder how she can afford him."

"By the looks of that table overthere with my brother and her I'd say craig is picking up the tab."said she;"You'll be able to help jack,won't you?"

"I can atleast try."started tom with a faint smile;"You know I'll do my best for jack."

As janet had returned to the table with craig she had noticed the dirty looks margo had been giving her as they walked past their table;"Your sister is mad at me."

"So?"laughed craig;"She's been mad at me so many time,but she'll get over it."

"Even if she doesn't who cares,craig."smiled his friend as she raised her glass to him;"To sticking it to jack and us working together as a perfect team."

"With benefits."answered he with a naughty smile while he raised his glass too;"Detective know-it-all won't know what hit him."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

A couple of days later carly was getting sage ready for school and they were already running late when parker came downstairs;"Have you seen my earplugs,mom?"

"No,I haven't and I don't have time to look for them right now either."answered carly irritated as she grabbed her keys;"Hurry up,sage,we're already running late and I have to be at metro within twenty minutes."

"Relax,mom."laughed her son and stopped her;"I will drive sage to school and you can go straight to metro."

"That would be so great,honey,thanks."said she a bit calmer with a faint smile;"Drop by metro later on and I'll make it up to you."

"No worries,mom,I'm happy to help."smiled parker while he gently pulled sage with him out the house;"Come on,shorty,let's go."

At the policestation jack was trying to focus on the case-file laying infront of him when a man in a suit walked up to him;"Detective jack snyder?"

"Yes,that's me."said he looking up and was surprised when the man gave him some papers;"What's this?"

"Consider yourself served,detective snyder."answered the man and walked away again;"Good day."

"What the hell is this?"asked jack angry as he read the papers and slammed his fist on his desk;"Damn it!"

"Hey,calm down,jack,what are you getting so angry about?"said his friend as she walked up to him;"It can't be that bad."

"It's worse."started he furious and showed margo the papers that he had just been served;"Janet wants to get half of my half of the house in milltown and she wants a part of my paycheck every month and fithy thousand dollars for damages."

"She wants what?"asked margo shocked;"Is she nuts?"

"Where the hell am I gonna get that kind of money and I can barely make ends meat as it is without losing part of my income."answered her friend;"Also the house in milltown is my kids' and carly's home,margo,so there's no way I'm gonna let janet get her greedy hands on that."

"This is all because of this new lawer janet hired or better yet who craig hired for her."said she;"Tom said that the man is a real shark."

"I know,margo,he told me the same thing and that I should be prepared for a real fight."started jack tired;"The court-date is set for next week and I'm gonna fight her on those stupid demands with everything I got."

"What about carly?"asked his friend worried;"Don't you think that you should warn her about this,jack,before she finds out from somebody else?"

"I kind have been avoiding carly these last few days,trying to give her some space to deal with my new found honesty about my feelings for her,but I guess you're right and I should tell her."answered he;"I'd rather kill janet first then let her have a part of the house that carly and my kids live in."

"Be carefull with saying that in public."warned margo him;"If janet heard it she'd use it in court against you."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Down at metro carly was in a meeting with henry when he suddenly,hesitating,brought the subject on to carly's past alcohol-problems;"Look,honey,I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong and just tell me to shut up if I'm out of line,but is it smart being here for you around all this alcohol?"

"Don't worry,henry,I'm not gonna turn into a drunken lush again and if I really wanted to drink I could do it anywhere I want anyway,so just relax."said carly with a faint smile;"Besides,being here helps me to keep busy and that's what I need right now."

"Why?"asked he;"Because you need to get your mind of jack snyder?"  
"Whatever makes you think that?"started his friend surprised and saw henry regretting his words and hesitating to answer her;"Henry!"

"Look,you didn't get this from me,carly,but a certain detective is afraid that he has ruined his chances with you after a certain talk and he seems to be going crazy."answered he;"Have you talked to jack since you guys had this talk?"

"No,i haven't and he's been avoiding me for days now and i haven't tried to talk to him about it either,because to be honest I don't know what to say anyway."said carly with a faint smile;"I was pretty furious at him,so i can't blame him for thinking that and I guess he talked to brad,who told you,didn't he?"

"My lips are sealed."smiled her friend with a wink;"Since I'm a bartender at times and pretty good at my job even if I do say so myself I'm gonna give you some bartender-advice,carly,clear the air between you and jack and don't let this stay between you for too long,because it won't just disappear on it's own."

"Thanks,maybe you're right,henry,does Vienna know what a great guy you are?"asked she and kissed him on his cheeck;"I hope she does."

"Me too."laughed henry.

Down at the policestation jack was still in doubt about what to do about telling carly when margo walked up to his desk;"Go and talk to carly!"

"And then what?"asked jack with a sigh;"Carly has been through so much and this will only makes things worse."

"How much worse can things get?"replied his friend;"She needs to know,jack,you need to tell her!"

"Maybe you're right."answered he;"But i'm not looking forward to telling her."

"I don't blame you,but it needs to be done."said margo;"Carly needs to know!"

"Then i might as well do it right now and get it over with."started her friend tired as he got up;"What if this drives carly over the edge again,margo?"

"Maybe you should give her some credit and trust her enough to be able to deal with this."answered she;"Carly is going to find out about this and don't you want her to hear it from you instead of from somebody else."

"You're right and she should hear it from me."replied jack and walked away;"WIsh me luck."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

30 minutes later jack showed up at carly's doorstep,nervous about talking to her again,when she opened the door;"Hey,jack."

"Hey."said he and walked in;"I need to talk to you about something."

"I guess we should finish up our talk."started carly with a faint smile as she sat down on the couch;"And don't worry,jack,I will try not to lose my temper this time."

"I'm sorry for what I said,carly,I didn't mean to upset you and maybe it was stupid of me to bring all that up while you just got back."answered her ex hesitating and sat down next to her;"At the risk of upsetting you even more,there's something that I need to tell you because if I don't then you might hear it from somebody else."

"I'm not gonna like this,am i?"asked she worried when she saw the look in jack's eyes;"What is it?"

"Maybe you should read this."said jack while he gave her the papers that he had been served;"These are janet's demands for the divorce."

"Has that bitch totally lost her mind?"started his ex shocked after reading the papers and jumped up;"I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind,jack!"

"No,you're not and you're gonna stay right here!"answered he,pulling carly back as she wanted to leave,causing her to fall down on his lap while he put his arms around her and held her tightly;"She isn't worth it and I'm not gonna let her get one part of this house,carly,I promise."

"She's not gonna get anything at all,jack,she'd better stay far away from you and leave you the hell alone!"yelled carly furious as she tried to get away from jack;"Let go off me damn it,I'm gonna kill her!"

"I'm not gonna let you go when you're like this!"said her ex-husband,having real difficulty keeping carly from getting away from him;"Damn it,carly,stop being so stubborn and listen to me for once!"

"I am listening to you,but I just don't agree!"answered she and was stuned when jack suddenly got up,lifted her up in his arms and carried up the stairs;"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm making you cool off."smiled jack while he walked into the bathroom,put carly in the bath and turned on the water;"This worked with parker too when he was younger,so it might work with you too."

"Jack snyder!"screamed his ex when the cold water splashed all over her as jack walked out of the bathroom while carly became soaking wet in the shower;"I'm gonna kill you!"

A few minutes later carly walked into her bedroom,where jack was sitting on the edge of her bed with a stupid grin on his face,with her bathrobe on;"Damn you,jack snyder!"

"So,did it work?"asked he teasing and ducked when she threw a pillow at him;"Guess not!"

"I'm gonna get you for that!"warned carly him and tried to look angry as she walked up to him;"I will!"

"Oh,really?"smiled her ex,totally being turned on as he stared into her eyes as carly stood infront him next to the bed with that fisty look in her eyes and pulled her body up against his;"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see!"said she with a faint smile,trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she felt jack's body up against hers through the thin bathrobe and the burning desire inside of her;"Nobody messes with this woman."

"You're way too tense."started jack slowly as his hands softly slided over her back up and down;"I'll fix that for you,carly."

"Jack…"began his ex feeling dizzy from desire while she felt his fingers gently touching her skin as he removed her bathrobe;"What are you doing?"

"Just making you less tense."smiled he,slowly massaging each part of the back of her upperbody and gently letting his fingers slide across her skin,as he leaned forwards and kissed her neck;"Is it working yet?"

"Yes."answered carly,hardly able to speak as jack was driving her crazy with his fingers as he reached the front of her body while she felt him kissing her neck,as his lips and his tongue played with her skin,and moved away from the bed,backwards towards the wall;"Jack…"

"If you want me to stop then I'll stop."whispered her ex into her ear after he got off the bed,moved closer towards her again and practicly pinned carly between him and the wall with his body up against hers again as he began to explore her body with his fingers and slowly,inch for inch,moving towards her lower body as she could feel his desire building up just like hers as his mouth was all over her;"Do you want me to stop,carly?"

"No,I don't"said she with a sigh and reluctant pushed jack away from her;"But I need you to stop."

"You're right and I'm sorry."replied jack with a guilty look;"I shouldn't have done that."

"It's not that I don't want to,jack,but I just can't do this anymore and it wouldn't solve anything."answered his ex-wife softly;"It would be so easy to jump back into bed with you."

"Is that what you think I'm trying to do?"asked he frustrated;"I'm not just trying to get back into bed with you,carly,I love you and I want to be with you."

"You're still married to janet!"said carly angry;"I just got back from L.A. and I'm still trying to fight the urge to drink,so I can't deal with this right now!"

"I'm sorry."started her ex ashamed and took carly's hand into his;"I know that this is the worst time ever and i shouldn't be pushing you into something that you're not ready for,carly,that isn't fair towards you."

"Let's just forget about it."replied she,pulling away from jack;"Why don't you go downstairs and give me a chance to get dressed."

"Sure."answered jack as he walked away.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

As jack was sitting out on the patio,thinking about what had almost happened,carly came back downstairs,in dry clothes,and joined him;"Hey."

"Hey."said jack hesitating;"Are you okay,carly?"

"I'm fine."answered she with a faint smile;"It's not that I didn't want what almost happened just now as much as you did,but I can't go down that road again with you."

"What does that mean?"asked her ex-husband scared that carly was really over him;"Don't you love me anymore?"

"This isn't about me loving you or you loving me,jack,this is about me not wanting to get hurt again."replied carly;"You're still married to janet and when I left I thought you were happy with her,so I was all ready to move on and now suddenly you're in love with me again?"

"I was always still in love with you,carly,I just tried to deny it and move on with janet,but after you went to L.A. I realized that I couldn't anymore."said he frustrated;"I can understand that this is too much for you right now and that you're not ready to deal with this,but please don't question my love for you and I'm not going to change my mind again and I'm not going to let you get away from me ever again!"

"You're right,jack,this is too much for me right now and I'm not ready!"answered his ex-wife with a sigh and put her hand on his cheeck;"I love you and all I ever wanted was to be with you,G-man,but you need to deal with your marriage right now and I need to focus on myself and my kids!"

"I will end my marriage with janet and then we will have this talk again,carly,I'm not going anywhere and I will show you that I'm really serious this time around."promised jack as he got up and gently kissed carly on her cheeck before walking away;"We belong together,lady."

At the lakeview janet was walking up to craig's room when she ran into lily;"Hello,lily."

"Are you on your way to see craig again?"asked she;"Guess you finally decided to show your true colours and hook up with somebody who has more money."

"When my divorce is finalized I will have enough money of my own."answered janet;"Craig and I are just friends."

"That's what they all say."said lily;"Let me give you a piece of advice,janet,leave jack and carly alone if you know what's good for you."

"Is that suppose to be a threat or something,lily,why do you even care what happens to carly after she slept around with your husband?"

"What happened between her and holden is in the past and carly is my friend,so I care a great deal about what happens to her and she deserves to be happy."started she,trying to stay calm and not to be tempted to strangle janet;"She and jack belong together and now that he has dumped your sorry ass,because he didn't love you and never has either,they can finally work on their future."

"He will be sorry for what he did and so will she!"answered janet and walked away;"I will make them regret it."


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

When rosanna came back to her sister's later that day she found carly sitting out on the patio,with a dreamy look on her face,so a bit worried she sat down next to her;"Are you okay?"

"No,not really."said carly with a faint smile;"I almost slept with jack."

"You did?"asked her sister shocked and got up with an angry look on her face;"Jack needs to back off and leave you alone,carly,I warned him about playing games with you!"

"Calm down,rosanna,he isn't playing games with me and I have already had a talk with jack about not wanting to go down that road again."answered she,softly pulling rosanna back down next to her;"It's okay."

"No,it's not okay and jack knows what you went through in L.A. so he shouldn't even have put you in that position!"replied rosanna;"How did jack react when you told him that you weren't gonna go down that road again?"

"He understands how I feel,but he isn't gonna give up on us."said her sister with a sigh;"Do you know how many times I have wished for jack to be standing infront of me,saying those words,and now that it has happened I'm not sure if I should let him get that close to me again,rosanna,does that sound crazy?"

"No,it sounds like you're being carefull and I think that you did the right thing by not letting jack talk you into bed with him."started she and was surprised at the angry look on carly's face;"I didn't mean that the way that it sounded."

"This wasn't about sex,rosanna,he really wants us to get back together again."answered carly as she got up and walked back into the house;"He does."

After jack picked up sage he was driving back to carly's house;"So,how was school,honey?"

"Fine."answered his daughter a bit worried;"Why are you picking me up,daddy?"

"Because I wanted to."laughed he when he saw the worried look in sage's eyes;"Your mother is at home with your aunt rosanna and I promised her that I'd pick you up from school."

"Are you and mommy speaking to eachother again?"asked sage;"She was sad when you stayed away the last few days,daddy."

"I know and she's fine now,princess,we both are."smiled her father;"How about going to the store together to get some stuff for having a barbeque and surprise your mother,sage?"

"That would be so cool."said she happy;"Do you think mommy will want that?"

"She'll be thrilled,honey,trust me."promised jack;"She'll love it."


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

At the lakeview janet was laying in craig's bed after they had just slept together when he got and started to get dressed;"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"asked craig;"I'm getting dressed,janet,I have things to do."

"I thought we'd stay in bed for a while."said she confused and grabbed his hand;"Craig…"

"What for?"laughed her friend as he pulled away;"We both got what we wanted just now,so what's the point in staying in bed?"

"Thanks,craig,that really makes a girl feel special."started janet annoyed while she began to get dressed too;"Did you treat carly like this too?"

"What I did or didn't do with carly is none of your business."answered he;"All we have is some sex now and then,so don't expect any romantic gestures from me,because that's not gonna happen and we're just friends with benefits."

"Why is everybody so into carly?"asked his friend angry;"If I didn't know any better I'd say she has everybody under her spell or something,craig,you all act like she's so damn special."

"I could try to explain the difference between you and carly,but I doubt if you'd be able to understand it,janet,so I'm not even gonna try."said craig and walked up to his desk;"I need to get some work done,so you know your way out,don't you?"

"Damn you,craig!"answered she as she walked out the door;"Go to hell!"

Back at carly's she had been waiting for jack to return with sage and had been a bit worried when it took longer then expected,so she was relieved when she finally saw jack's car pulling up and them getting out of the car;"What took you guys so long?"

"We had to pick up some stuff at the store."smiled jack as he walked up to the door,with two large shoppingbags in his arms;"Guess what?"

"We're having a barbeque."said his daughter before carly had a chance to say anything and ran into the house;"Parker!parker!"

"What?"asked he walking down the stairs;"What's up,shorty?"

"We're having a barbeque,parker."smiled sage;"And daddy's staying for dinner."

"He is?"started her mother with a faint smile while she walked into the house with jack and turned towards him;"Are we having a barbeque,jack?"

"Yes,we are."answered he;"Where's rosanna?"

"She had to take care of some business,but she'll be back later on."said carly and followed jack into the kitchen;"So,you're staying for dinner?"

"Yes,I am."replied her ex;"Do you mind,carly?"

"I guess not."answered she with a faint smile;"The kids seem thrilled about it."

"Are you thrilled about it too?"asked jack,quickly planting a kiss on her cheeck before he walked out of the kitchen with a big grin on his face;"Who's gonna help me fire up the grill?"

"Hey,mom."said his son as he walked into the kitchen,where carly was still standing,deeply in thoughts about jack;"Are you sure that you're okay with dad being here and joining us for a BBQ?"

"Sure."started she surprised by his remark and looked up at him;"Are you okay with it?"

"I'm cool with it."answered parker;"As long as you are."

"I am."said his mother with a faint smile and gave parker a hug;"Let's have a BBQ."


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

That evening carly was sitting out in the backyard,enjoying seeing jack and her kids fool around with eachother,when rosanna came out of the house with the phone and gave it to carly;"Sam's on the phone for you."

"Thanks."said carly as she walked back into the house,not noticing the look on jack's face.

After a few minutes she came back and sat back down next to rosanna;"Sam was just worried that I hadn't called back today when I promised I would."

"How are things down in L.A.?"asked her sister;"Is sam still keeping busy,carly?"

"Things are great downthere."laughed she when jack walked up to them.

"I think I'm gonna head home."said jack with a strange look on his face and after saying a quick goodbye to the kids he walked back into the house;"Bye."

"What's up with jack?"started rosanna surprised;"Did you see that look on his face?"

"Yeah,I did and I'll be right back."answered her sister as she quickly got up and ran after jack,who was already half way out of the door;"Wait up,jack!"

"What,carly?"asked he annoyed and turned around;"I have to go!"

"What's going on?"said carly worried;"Did I do something to upset you?"

"No."started her ex quickly and after a quick kiss on her cheeck jack walked out,to his car,leaving carly behind,feeling confused and worried;"I just have to go."

A while later carly had just put sage to bed and parker had already gone upstairs to his room,to play some videogames,as she came back downstairs and sat down next to rosanna,on the couch,with an upset look on her face;"I've tried call jack again,but his cellphone is turned off."

"What do you think was wrong with him all of a sudden?"asked her sister;"Everything seemed to be going great when his mood suddenly changed when you came back after sam's phonecall."

"Sam's phonecall!"said carly suddenly as she jumped up and grabbed her keys;"Could you watch the kids for a while,rosanna?"

"Sure."answered she confused;"Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to jack because I think I know why he was suddenly acting like that."started her sister tired and walked out of the frontdoor;"Men!"

Twenty minutes later out at the farm emma was cleaning up in the kitchen when carly walked in;"Goodevening,carly,if you're looking for jack he's out in the barn."

"Thanks."said she and wanted to walk away when emma stopped her;"What is it,emma?"

"I'm glad you're back again and that you're okay,carly."smiled the old woman as she put her arms around carly and hugged her;"You make my nephew happy."

"Thank you,emma,that means a lot coming from you."answered carly with a faint smile;"But I don't think jack is so happy right now."

"My nephew is a good man,but sometimes he lets himself get in the way of what he really wants and he's his own worst enemy."said she and gently pushed carly out the door;"Go and talk to him,carly,you guys can work this out."

Out in the barn jack was beside himself,thinking about this sam that carly had been on the phone with and who she had probably spend the whole three months with in L.A.,and he was felt a rage of jealousy at the thought of carly being him somebody else beside him and furious he took a swing at the wall,bruising his hand in the process;"Damn it!"

"What are you doing,jack,are you crazy?"asked carly,who walked into the barn and who had seen jack hitting the wall,and grabbed his hand,which was bleeding a bit;"Look at your hand!"

"My hand is fine!"answered he and pulled away from carly;"What are you doing here?"

"Did you leave because of my phonecall to sam?"started his ex worried;"Is that why you're so angry now?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were seeing somebody in L.A.?"said jack angry;"Why,carly?"  
"I was seeing sam,but not in the way that you think."answered she tired;"She was my therapist!"

"She?"asked her ex stuned;"Do you mean to tell me that sam's a woman?"

"Yes,sam is short for Samantha and if you had asked me that back at the house instead of storming out of my house like some mad-man then you would have known that!"said carly irritated;"Sam was my therapist in L.A. and she helped me through a really tough time,making me see things more cleary and understanding the past better,jack,and we became friends,so she still checks up with me out of every few days to see how I'm doing."

"Oh."started he feeling pretty ashamed for his behavior;"I'm sorry,carly,I just lost it at the thought of you with another guy."

"That still didn't give you the right to act like that!"answered his ex angry as she turned around and walked away;"Goodnight,jack!"


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Totally furious with jack carly drove home and stormed into the house;"Men!"

"What happened?"asked rosanna surprised when she saw how angry carly was;"Carly?"

"Jack got the wrong idea when sam called and instead of talking to me about it he just acting like a total jerk!"answered she when the doorbell rang and when the doorbell rang she walked up the stairs;"If that's jack then tell him to go to hell!"

"Hi,rosanna."said jack as rosanna opened the door;"Can I please talk to carly?"

"I don't think she wants to see you right now,jack,she told me to tell you to go to hell."started his ex-sister-in-law hesitating while she let him into the house;"She went upstairs."

"Thanks."said he and walked up the stairs too,towards carly's bedroom where he knocked on the door;"Can I please come in?"

"No!"answered carly,trying to be as calm and quiet as possible because she didn't want to wake up the kids,as jack walked in anyway and threw a pillow at him;"Go away,jack,leave me alone!"

"You have every right to be mad at me,carly,but please let me explain and if you still want me to go then I will."begged his ex;"Please?"

"It better be good!"warned she jack as she sat down on the bed;"Well?"

"I know it was stupid of me to walk out of here earlier after hearing you on the phone with sam and getting the wrong idea,but the thought of you being somebody else just drives me nuts and I thought you not wanting to get back together again with me had something to do with sam."started jack slowly and sat down next to carly on the bed;"I know that I don't have a right to feel like that since I was still with janet when you left,but that's just the way I feel and I can't help it."

"Just like the thought of me with craig drove you nuts too?"asked his ex-wife with a faint smile;"Don't worry,jack,the thought of you with other women always drives me nuts too."

"So…"said he relieved that carly seemed a bit calmer and took her hand into his;"Are we okay now,honey,do you forgive me?"

"I guess,jack,for this once!"answered carly softly;"But don't run off like that again and just ask me something and don't assume things."

"Therapy must have been intense,carly,what did you talk about?"

"I will tell you all about it tomorrow,but right now I'm tired and I wanna go to bed!"said she and couldn't help it smile when jack layed down on the bed;"Alone,jack!"

"Okay."smiled jack as he gently kissed carly on her cheeck before walking out of the bedroom;"Sweet dreams."


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

The next morning carly woke up and jumped out of bed when she saw what time it was and realized sage was gonna be late for school;"Damn it!"

In a hurry carly rushed to sage's bedroom,surprised to see that her daughter wasn't there,so she went to check parker's room and saw that he wasn't there either.

Worried she then ran down the stairs,to see if they were downstairs;"Sage?Parker?"

"Goodmorning,honey,how did you sleep?"smiled jack as he came out of the kitchen;"Are you hungry?"  
"What are you doing here and where are the kids,jack?"asked his ex confused;"For some reason my stupid alarm clock didn't go off and i have to take sage to school and I overslept,so we're already late."

"Relax,carly,calm down."laughed he and gently took her over to the couch as he sat her down;"I arrived here while you were still asleep,turned off your alarmclock and dropped sage off at school twenty minutes ago."

"You did?"said carly surprised;"And why did you do all those things?"

"I wanted to surprise you with breakfast and you looked so sweet asleep that I didn't have the heart to wake you up,carly,so I let you sleep in and made sure sage got off to school in time."answered her ex as he sat down next to carly;"Parker went to the farm,to help emma out with some things,so we have the whole place to ourselves."

"You have a one tracked mind,jack snyder,can't you think of anything else?"laughed she;"Don't you have a room to fix up and don't you have to be back at the policestation or something?"

"You're right and no,I have the whole day off."smiled jack,getting up again;"I'm gonna get started on j.j.'s room."

At al's janet was working the morning-shift when Katie walked in;"Hi,janet."

"You're up early."said she surprised;"What brings you downhere?"

"Is it true that you're trying to get half of jack's income,a half of his half of carly's house and a 50.000 dollars for damages?"asked Katie hesitating;"You can't be serious!"

"Who told you?"answered her friend annoyed;"Did jack tell you or brad,Katie,how can you even ask me that while you know what I have been through thanks to jack and that bitch,carly?"

"But to try and squeeze that kind of money out of jack is crazy,knowing very well that he doesn't even have it,and you knew up front that this marriage of yours would end badly,because I warned you about it!"said she;"I told you that no matter what happens or who jack is with he will never stop loving her and I warned you that it would end your marriage to him at one point!"

"Jack said I do to me and he could have picked carly before that,but he didn't and he broke my heart,so now he's gonna pay!"started janet angry;"They will pay for what they have done!"


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

After cleaning up in the kitchen carly went upstairs to bring jack a cup of coffee and found him hard at work in j.j.'s room,without his shirt on,which still made her heart skip a beat as she couldn't help it but stare at him.

When jack noticed carly staring at him he looked up at her with a big grin on his face;"Do you like what you see,lady?"

"I brought you some coffee."replied she with a caught look and couldn't help it but blush as she quickly looked away;"The room is coming along pretty good."

"Thanks for the coffee."smiled her ex as he put the cup on top of j.j.'s desk and moving a bit closer to carly;"It's nice to see that I can still make you blush."

"I wasn't blushing."answered carly lying,but didn't dare to look back up at jack and wanted to turn around to walk away;"And you're welcome,jack."

"Where are you going,carly,am I making you uncomfortable?"asked he teasing while he grabbed her wrist;"And you were blushing."

"Don't,jack!"warned his ex-wife him softly as jack made her look at him and moved even closer towards her;"We can't do this."

"Do what?"replied jack in a hoarse voice and gently pushed a string of hair out of carly's face;"What are we doing?"

"We're about to do something that I'm not ready for."answered she,hardly able to resist the urge to kiss jack while she pulled away from him;"Please,jack,don't make this so hard for me!"

"I'm sorry."started her ex slowly;"I can't help it,carly,being here with you like this is driving me crazy."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be here anymore."said carly tired;"Maybe you should only come here for the kids from now on,jack.

"Maybe you're right."replied he with an angry look and walked away;"Bye,carly."

Less then ten minutes later carly was sitting downstairs on the couch,thinking about the way that jack left and feeling bad about what she had said because the last thing that she wanted to do was hurt his feelings,when all of a sudden jack came storming in through the frontdoor;"I'm not gonna let you do this!"

"Do what?"asked his ex stuned about the way he had rushed in;"I'm just being honest with you!"

"No,you're doing your best to push me away from you and I won't let you!"answered jack as he sat down next to carly;"You're too scared to give us another chance,carly!"

"I'm too scared?"replied she angry and jumped up from the couch;"Who married janet and who was too afraid to get back together again with me?"

"I was,but I wasn't the only one and you pushed me away too!"said her ex,trying to stay calm while carly was driving him furious,while he got up too;"We need to stop being so scared and deal with our feelings!"

"I'm still dealing with my alcohol-problem,jack,I can't deal with anything else right now!"began carly with tears in her eyes;"Do you have any idea how much I want a drink right now?"

"I'm sorry for making things worse for you."answered he a bit ashamed and pulled carly into his arms;"I will try not to push you anymore."

"How would you feel about seeing a therapist with me to help us deal with everything?"asked his ex;"I think that we still have a lot of unresolved issues."

"A therapist?"replied jack stuned;"Are you being serious,carly?"

"You want us to get back together and I can't even consider that without us having to resolve a few things first."said she;"Please come and see a therapist with me."

"Okay,I'm willing to try it once if it will help us."promised her ex and kissed carly on her cheeck before leaving again;"I will do it if it will make you see that I am serious about us getting back together again!"


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Out at the farm emma was out in the barn,together with parker;"So,you must be thrilled that your mother is back again,parker."

"I am."said he without looking up;"But going to L.A. and spending time there with her was pretty awesome too and molly said that I could come back on my own if I want to sometime for a few weeks."

How do you feel about your father spending so much time at with you guys and your mother lately?"asked emma;"Are you okay with that?"

"As long as it makes mom happy then I'm okay with it and she does seem happy,emma,so it's okay."

"But….?"answered she when she heard a slight hesitation in parker's voice;"Do you think that she might not stay happy?"

"I don't know."started parker hesitating;"Mom just got back,after a rough three months in L.A. trying to beat her alcohol-problem,and dad's got a lot going on in his life right now,with janet and the divorce."

"Do you think that your parents are going to get back together again,parker,is that why they might be spending so much time together?"

"Maybe."answered he;"I love seeing them together again,but they have tried it before and each time something happens to mess it up again and I don't know what will happen to my mom if that were to happen again this time."

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith."smiled emma;"Your parents both have their faults and they have both made terrible mistakes,parker,but I think they have learned from them and maybe they can really make it work this time around."

Around lunchtime margo was working at the station when craig walked in;"Hello,margo."

"What do you want,craig?"asked she annoyed;"Shouldn't you be hanging out with your new best friend?"

"My new best friend?"laughed her brother;"Oh,you mean,janet."

"What's with you hanging out with her lately,craig,did they run out of plastic dolls at the store?"said margo;"First you're all over carly before she left and now janet,so what's with the need to go for jack's ex-wives?"

"I'm not all over janet and carly doesn't really seem interested in me anymore these days since detective-know-it-all has been all over her eversince she got back from L.A."answered he;"I don't stay somewhere where I'm not wanted."  
"If that is true then what are you still doing in oakdale?"asked his sister;"Nobody wants you here."

"Ouch,margo,that hurts."smiled craig;"Janet seems to want me here."

"Yeah,so that she can stick it to you and because you're paying for her lawer."laughed his sister;"If jack would come back to her then she'd drop you in a second,craig,without any hesitation."

"Maybe."said he;"Look,I'm touched that you're worried about me,margo,but I'm just having some fun with janet and I couldn't care less if she decided to stay away from me."

"I'm not worried about you,craig,I'm worried about jack and what you two have in store for him!"answered margo as she walked away from her brother;"Whatever you get I'm sure you deserve!"

Back in milltown carly was cleaning up in the kitchen when rosanna walked in;"Hey,honey,where's jack?"

"He left because he had a meeting with tom."answered her sister and noticed the worried look on rosanna's face;"It's okay and I made it pretty clear to jack how I feel."

"Just be carefull."said rosanna as she hugged carly;"I just want you to be happy,carly."

"I am happier then I have been in a long time."said she;"I got jack to agree to seeing a therapist together."

"For real?"asked her sister stuned;"Is jack really really going to see a therapist with you?"

"Yes,he promised me that he'd try it once."answered carly;"Before I'm willing to consider getting back together again with jack at some point I want some of our issues to be resolved first."

"I still can't believe that you got jack to agree to this,because he's the last person that I would have expected to go and see a therapist."laughed she;"Does he know that there's a big chance that your therapist will point out things that jack thinks he did right,but which we all knew he did wrong?"

"I have no idea and I'm not gonna tell him that,because it might make him chance his mind."smiled her sister;"We both know how much jack enjoys being right,even if he isn't."


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

In tom's office jack's mood was getting worse and worse by the minute;"Do you mean to tell me that there might even be a chance that janet will get what she wants,tom,is that what you're trying to say?"

"All I'm saying is that we've got a big fight on our hands and that janet's new lawer is a real shark,who will do whatever he can to get what his clients want and right now janet wants to take you for everything that you've got."answered he;"The fact that you're seeing carly isn't really helping right now."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"asked his friend angry;"I left janet while carly was away and it's none of anybody's business what carly and I do or don't do!"

"Be that as it may,jack,if the court hears about you seeing the woman that janet claims destroyed your marriage it isn't gonna look good."started tom hesitating;"Just try to keep a low profile with carly untill the divorce is finalized,jack,that's all I'm saying and let me handle janet's lawer."

"You don't have to worry about it becoming public because she doesn't want a relationship with me untill we,as she puts it,sort out all of our problems and get it right this time,so we aren't together and carly has no intensions of getting back together with me any time soon."said he;"She's even got me to come and see a therapist together."

"She did?"asked his friend with a smile;"Carly's a smart woman,jack,you should keep her."

"Hahahaha."answered jack with a faint smile as he got up;"You're such a comedian."

Later that day jack walked into carly's house,after shaking off his bad mood first because he didn't want to worry carly,and found her with sage,working on a dress for sage together;"Hey,my two favorite girls together."

"Sweettalker."laughed his ex-wife looking up and noticed that something was up;"How did it go?"

"It went fine,carly."said jack and faked a smile;"So,did parker get back yet?"

"He got back about an hour ago,but he just left again to hang out with his friends."answered she worried,but with sage in the room she couldn't really ask too much,so carly decided to let it go for the time being;"So,are you staying for dinner?"

"That depends on who's making dinner."started her ex teasing;"Are you cooking or are we ordering in?"

"Very funny,jack,hahahaha."smiled carly,rolling her eyes at jack and looked at sage;"Your father should be in a comedy-show."

"I should,shouldn't i?"laughed he while he pulled sage on his lap as he sat down on the couch;"Isn't your father the funniest dad there is?"

"No,not really,daddy,you only think you're the funniest."answered his daughter with a smile as she gave him a hug;"But I still love you anyway."

"Thanks,honey,glad that somebody does."said jack as he winked at carly,who stuck out her tongue at him as she walked up to the kitchen,and hugged sage back as he kissed her on the forhead;"I love you too,princess."

At old town parker was hanging with a friend when he saw liberty;"Hi,parker."

"Hey."said he a bit uncomfortable because of the way things had ended between them as well as how things were between their parents;"How have you been?"

"Okay."answered his ex;"And how about you?"

"Liberty!"yelled all of a sudden janet as she came out of a store and saw them talking;"Get away from him!"

"Mom!"started she annoyed and embarrassed;"We were just talking!"

"I don't care what you were doing,liberty,I want you to stay away from him!"said her mother and turned towards parker;"If I ever see you near my daughter again!"

"Then what?"asked parker angry;"The best thing my dad ever did was leave you,janet!"

"He's gonna be sorry he did and so will that bitch of a mother of yours!"answered she;"They'll both pay!"

"Mom!"said her daughter totally thrown by the way janet was acting and tried to pull her mother away with her;"Stop it,mom,let's go!"

"If you ever do anything to hurt my parents,janet,then I swear I will…"warned parker janet furious;"I mean it!"

"Will you shoot me then?"asked she laughing;"Just like you shot your mother's boyfriend?"

"He wasn't her boyfriend!"yelled her daughter's ex and hit janet so hard that she fell on the ground and blood was running all over face;"Shut up!"

"Help!"started janet yelling as people began to gather around them;"I'm being attacked,please call the police!"


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Jack was sitting on the couch,just sitting watching his two favorite girls chatting away about the special party that lily was having for all the girls in a few weeks while they working on the dress and enjoying every second of it while he felt an inner peace that he hadn't felt in a long time,when he looked at his watch;"What time would parker be home?"

"Soon enough I think."answered carly looking up as she looked at the time too and the phone started ringing;"That's probably him right now."

"Isn't aunt rosanna coming for dinner?"asked her daughter as she turned towards jack while carly went to pick up the phone;"We've hardly seen her since she moved out,dad."

"Your aunt has probably been really busy,but I'm sure she will be stop by soon enough."smiled he,but quickly got worried as he saw the shocked look on carly's face as she turned towards them and hung up the phone;"What's wrong,honey,did something happen?"

"That was dallas at the policestation,jack,our son has been arrested!"said carly in shock;"We have to get downthere right away!"

"What?"asked her ex confused;"What happened,carly,why did he get arrested?"

"Not now!"warned she him quickly with a look at sage and grabbed the phone;"I will call lily to see if sage can stay with them for a while and play with the girls."

At the policestation liberty was sitting in the interrogation-room with janet,waiting for dallas to come back;"Why are you doing this,mom,why did you have parker arrested?"

"Why?"asked she angry;"He almost broke my nose and he assaulted me,so he should be arrested and I should have done the same with his mother!"

"You pushed him too far,mom,it's your own fault that he hit you!"answered her daughter angry as well;"It's like you wanted him to do it or something!"

"Don't be stupid,liberty,ofcourse I didn't want him to almost break my nose!"said janet when dallas walked in;"What is taking so long,dallas?"

"We're waiting for his parents to arrive before we can question parker and then it's up to the D.A. to decide if parker will go before a judge or not."started he hesitating;"Are you sure that you wanna do this,janet,because it seems a bit extreme to have parker arrested for this."

"Dallas is right,mom,what your doing is stupid and way out of line!"answered liberty as she got up and walked out of the room;"I don't want to have any part in this!"

As dallas was taking janet's statement and liberty was walking out of the interogationroom when carly walked in with jack,furious;"Where the hell is my son?"

"Calm down,carly,getting all worked up isn't gonna help parker."said her G-man and saw liberty standing infront of them,looking pretty scared;"What's going on,liberty,what happened?"

"I had nothing to do with any of this,jack,I swear!"answered she in tears;"It wasn't really parker's fault what happened."

"It's okay,liberty."started carly softly,a bit calmer,as she realized that the young girl was just as upset as they were and pulled her into her arms to comfort her;"We're not angry at you or anything."

"I have never seen parker that angry before,carly,he was so mad at my mom,but it wasn't his fault."said her ex daughter-in-law crying,but relieved that they weren't mad at her;"What mom said was way out of line!"

"Do you want us to call your dad and have him pick you up here?"asked she worried about liberty and looked at jack;"Maybe it's best if brad picks her up."

"Get your damn hands off my daughter!"answered janet as she suddenly came out of the interogationroom with dallas while she walked up to carly and pulled liberty away from her;"Stay away from her!"

"Omg,they weren't doing anything wrong,mom,carly was trying to be nice!"yelled her daughter totally frustrated with janet and ran out of the policestation,crying;"I'm going to dad's!"

"Are you happy now?"asked she angry and looked at carly;"Now you've turned my daughter against me too!"

"Take a deep breath and calm down!"said jack quickly to carly as he put his arms around her and got in between her and janet while dallas pulled janet far away from carly;"She isn't worth it,carly,just let it go please!"

"I'm going outside before I end up strangling her!"answered his ex-wife furious and walked out of the policestation;"Make sure she's gone before I come back in a few minutes!"

"Go and wait in the interogationroom for me while I talk to jack!"said dallas as he pushed janet in there and closed the door behind her;"Stay there and be quiet!"


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Carly was standing outside,trying to calm down enough not to get the urge to kill janet right there in the policestation,when she saw margo's car pulling up and her getting out of the car seconds later;"Hi,what are you doing here,carly,are you waiting for jack?"

"Hi,we're here because parker got arrested in old town."said she;"Jack's inside and I'm trying to get calm enough to resist strangling his soon to be ex-wife."

"Omg,what did janet do this time?"asked margo annoyed;"Don't tell me she had parker arrested?"

"I don't know what really happened yet,because we just got here and she already had me wanting to strangle her within seconds,margo,but all I know is that parker slugged her and then she had him arrested for assaulting her."answered her friend's ex-wife;"I'm sure that she had it coming!"

"I'm sure she did,because I know parker and I'm sure he had a good reason for doing what he did."started she slowly;"So,are you ready to go back inside and sort this all out?"

"Sure."said carly confused and suspicious at how friendly margo was being towards her as they walked into the policestation;"Why are you being so nice to me when I know you don't even like me,margo?"

"It's true that there's no love lost between us,carly,but jack's my friend and parker's hal's son,so anyone who hurts them deals with me."answered she with a faint smile;"Besides,even I have to admit that you've come a long way since you first ended up in oakdale,causing a lot of trouble,and jack seems to be the happiest when he's with you,so maybe it's time to get along for a change."

"Hey,ladies."said jack as he saw them both come in and walked up to them with parker by his side;"Are you okay,carly?"

"I'm fine and somewhat calmer,as long as she stays the hell away from me!"started his ex-wife slowly and put her arms around parker;"Oh,my poor baby,are you okay?"

"Mom!"answered he embarrassed while he quickly pulled away;"I'm fine,mom,dallas let me turn the sirene on and it was awesome,so chill with the drama."

"Excuse me?"asked carly stuned as she turned towards jack,who stood there with a grin on his face;"Is this what we rushed downhere for,jack?"

"It turns out that they didn't really arrest him,but dallas made janet think that he did to keep her quiet untill he was able to calm her down and parker seem to have had a great time here at the policestation in margo's office,where he has been the whole time."smiled her G-man;"So,are we free to take parker home,margo?"

"Ofcourse,jack,I will sort everything out here with janet."started she with a faint smile and looked at parker;"This time you got away with it,but next time you might not,parker,so just try to ignore janet and walk away instead of slugging her."

"Thanks,margo."answered parker and walked away with his parents;"I'm hungry."

"Me too."laughed his father as he put one arm around his son and the other one around carly as they walked out of the policestation;"Who's up for burgers?"

As jack walked out with his family margo walked into the interrogationroom where janet was sitting,waiting;"Hello,janet."

"Hi,margo."said she surprised;"Is parker finally being charged with assault and all?"

"No."answered her husband's friend;"We just let him go home with his parents."

"You what?"asked janet in shock as she jumped up and pointed at her big,red nose;"Look at what that little punk did and you just let him go home,margo?"

"Sit down and listen really carefully to me!"started she slowly;"I'm fed up with you trying to hurt jack by messing with the people that he loves just because you can't handle the fact that he doesn't want to be with you,so that's going to stop right now and you will stay far away from them all or I will have you arrested and thrown into jail!"

"You can't talk to me like that!"said her friend's wife angry;"Parker attacked me and I want him arrested for it,so if you don't do it I will take this straight to the D.A.!"

"You do that and I will personally make your life a living hell,janet,that's a promise!"answered margo as she walked away;"Now get the hell out of my policestation!"


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

At al's jack was eating there with his family,after they had picked up sage from lily's,and looked at carly,who was pretty quiet;"Are you okay?"  
"No,not really,but let's not talk about that now."answered carly with a faint smile and looked at her daughter;"Did you have a good time at lily's,sage?"

"Yes,Nathalie and I got uncle holden to take us horsebackriding tomorrow."smiled she;"Can I please go?"

"Sure."said her mother;"I will drop you off in the morning."

"Thanks,mom."answered sage;"I can't wait for aunt lily's party."

"You will look stunning in the dress that your mother is making."smiled her father;"As stunning as your mother,sage."

"I'm helping mom with the dress,dad,we're both making it!"said she,rolling her eyes at jack;"And nobody looks as stunning as mom!"

"True."answered jack with a big grin on his face as winked at carly,who's face got all red,and he was amused that he made her blush again;"So true."

Brad had just got home and was surprised to find his daughter,alone and totally upset,sitting on his doorstep;"Hey,honey,what happened?"

"Mom had parker arrested for hitting her."said liberty crying as she let brad take her with him into the house;"But it was her own fault that he hit her because she was pushing his buttons with stuff about his mom and about the guy he had shot."

"Why did she do that?"asked her father surprised;"What happened,liberty?"

"She saw us talking and got mad,but she was mad for no reason because we just saying hi and stuff."started she softly;"I told mom to let it go,but eversince jack left her mom has been set on getting revenge or something and I hate it!"

"Has it been that bad?"answered brad,feeling guilty about being busy with work and other things and not really being there for liberty as much as he should have been since she moved into a small two-room apartment with janet after her breakup with jack;"Do you want me to talk to your mother?"

"No!"said his daughter upset;"Can I please stay here,dad,please?"

"Sure."started he slowly;"But I will have to talk to your mother about this,because you can't just move in here again and not say anything to her."

"You can talk to her all you want,but I'm not going back to her because she's gone crazy!"answered liberty;"All she cares about these days is getting back at jack and carly."

Half an hour later brad showed up on janet's doorstep,who was surprised to find her ex-boyfriend there;"Hi,brad,what are you doing here?"

"I found liberty on my doorstep,really upset,and she said something about you trying to have parker arrested and going nuts over them talking together."started he slowly and tried not to laugh at the look of her big red nose;"Are you trying out for a Christmas-carol or something?"

"That isn't funny,brad,he could have broken my nose!"answered janet annoyed;"If it hadn't been for margo then that stupid punk would have been arrested for assaulting me and he hits me,but I get all the blame."

"As if you didn't do anything wrong."said her ex-boyfriend;"Liberty told me what has been going on,janet,I know all about your obsession to hurt my brother and carly because you're angry at jack for leaving you,but now you have hurt my daughter in your quest for revenge and I can't have that!"

"Your daughter?"asked she angry;"I have raised her alone for all those years before you even know she excisted,so don't come here and tell me how to raise her!"

"And who's fault was that?"answered brad angry as well;"I only came here now because liberty has told me that she wants to move in with me and Katie because she's had it with you and your crazy revenge-idea."

"No way!"said his ex-girlfriend shocked;"She's not moving in with you again,brad,I won't let her!"

"You don't have a choice in the matter and this is liberty's decision,janet,so there's no point in fighting it!"warned he janet and walked away;"I will pick up some stuff tomorrow when you've had a chance to let it sink it."

"Damn you,brad snyder!"yelled janet on after him furious as he walked up to his car;"Go to hell!"


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

That evening carly was sitting out on the patio infront of the house,while the kids were watching tv,when jack came outside too and sat down next to her;"So,do you want to talk about it?"

"What else is janet going to do?"started carly softly;"She pushed parker so far that he punched her and then tried to get him arrested,jack!"

"Hey,I know it looked bad for a minute or so,but it all turned out fine and margo will handle things with janet."said he and gently began to massage carly's shoulders;"You're way too tense right now."

"Jack…."began his ex-wife not sure whether to stop him or let him go on because it felt so good and she was feeling pretty tense;"What if the kids see this,jack,I don't want them to get the wrong idea."

"Then they will be happy that I'm doing something nice for their mother,carly."smiled jack teasing as he kissed her neck;"Or if you're worried that they might see us we can go upstairs where they can't see us."

"Oh,yeah,like that won't give away anything."laughed she and put her hand on his cheeck;"As much as I'd love to go upstairs with you,G-man,we can't and you promised me that you wouldn't push me into something that I'm not ready for."

"Hmmmm,I just can't help myself when I'm around you."whispered her G-man into her ear,while his hands moved a little lower down her back,underneath her blouse,and nibbled her ear;"Wanna bet I can get you to come upstairs with me in less then five minutes?"

"You're not playing fair,jack snyder!"smiled carly,knowing that he was absolutely right and she was already having trouble resisting him;"Not fair at all!"

"Hey,mom,sage wants that new dvd that you bought for her."said her son as he came outside,causing his mother to move away from jack real quickly and for jack to pull back his hands,and started laughing when he saw his parents looking so caught;"You two look like a bunch of caught teenagers,guys,chill out,because we already know."

"Know what?"asked she,trying to look less caught;"What do you mean,honey?"  
"That you and dad are back together again."answered parker;"It's cool with us,so no need to get all stressed-out about it."

"We're aren't really back together again yet."started his father with a faint smile as he turned his head towards carly;"Are we?"

"No,we're not!"replied carly with a firm look at jack as she got up and quickly walked away,knowing full well that if she stayed near jack that she wasn't going to be able to resist him any longer;"We're not!"

"What does that mean?"asked her son curious and looked at jack;"I thought that you guys were back together again,dad."

"I want to get back together again,but I first need to fix this mess with the divorce and all before your mother and I can even try to work things out again."said he;"Your mother has been through a lot and she needs some time to deal with that,parker,but I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to fix everything and give your mother the life she deserves."

"Just don't break her heart again,dad,don't do this unless you really mean it!"warned parker his father and walked back inside as well;"Don't make mom any promises that you can't keep."

Brad was sitting on the couch when Katie walked in;"Hi,brad,what are liberty things doing standing there in the hallway?"

"She's moving back in with us."answered he without looking up;"She didn't want to live with janet anymore."

"Don't you think that you should have talked to me about this first before letting her move in with us again?"asked his wife irritated;"How could you make a decision like that without talking to me first?"

"She's my daughter,Katie,what did you expect me to do?"started brad angry as he got up;"Janet messed up big time and I think she's lost her mind or something,so liberty didn't wanna live with her anymore and I love having her here."

"All I'm saying is that you should have talked to me first."said she pouting;"That's all."

"Liberty doesn't want to live with her mother and I don't blame her after talking to janet today,so she will stay here!"answered her husband and walked away;"That's that!"


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Carly was putting her daughter to bed and kissed her on her forhead after giving sage a big hug;"Goodnight,sweety."

"Are you and dad gonna get back together again and even get married again?"asked sage when carly got up;"Are you,mommy?"

"I…."started she a bit thrown by her sage's question;"I don't know,honey,I honestly don't know."

"I'm happy that he isn't with janet anymore."smiled her daughter;"I knew that he still loved you and not her."

"Yes,I know you did,sage,you told us plenty of times."laughed carly;"Sleep tight,sweety."

"Night,mommy."said she and closed her eyes as carly turned off the light and closed the door on her way out."

"What are you smiling about?"asked jack as carly came downstairs and sat down next to him on to couch.

"Our daughter basicly just told me I told you so,jack."smiled his ex;"She said that she has always known that you didn't really love janet and that you still loved me."

"Like mother like daughter."laughed he;"Sage is a smart girl."

"What are we gonna do,jack,the kids think that we're back together again or will be real soon!"answered carly with a sigh;"Sage even asked me if we're gonna get married again."

"I will have a talk with sage in the morning,carly,I already told parker that we aren't together yet and that I need to fix a few things first."said her ex as he got up and kissed carly on her cheeck;"We are going to get back together again,lady,I promise you that and I'm not gonna give up on us!"

"Sweet dreams."smiled jack while he walked away,leaving carly behind on the couch,speechless;"See you tomorrow."

At yo's janet was sitting at the bar when craig sat down next to her;"You look like a troubled woman,janet,are you still pinning away over detective know it all?"

"Shut up,craig!"answered she annoyed;"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I walked past here and saw you sitting at the bar."said craig;"Shouldn't you be at home with your daughter by now or something?"

"My home isn't my daughter's home anymore,craig,she went to live with her father and there's nobody to come home to."

"Why did she do that?"asked he surprised;"What happened?"

"Carly got her to turn against me!"started janet angry;"Parker attacked me today and nobody gives a damn!"

"When is the courtdate for your divorce,janet,are you still going to take jack for all he's worth?"

"Yes,I am,craig,now more then ever before!"said she;"I will make them pay!"

"Then good luck to you."smiled craig as he got up;"Care to get a drink at my hotel?"

"Sure."answered janet while she got up too and followed craig outside;"Why not."


	56. Chapter 56

Note From the author : Due to some personal issues i haven't been able to write for a while,so sorry for the long wait for an update and hopefully the next updates won't take so long.

I also want to wish all my readers a merry x-mas and an amazing,healthy and awesome 2013.

Chapter 56

As the days went by jack got more and more nervous about the hearing for his divorce and so did carly,because deep down inside carly was scared that janet would find a way to get what she wanted.

Luckly carly had metro to take her mind off things and jack had his work at the policestation and they both they had the kids to keep them busy.

Jack had done his best to keep his distance from carly and not push her into something that she wasn't ready for because he respected carly's decision in wanting to take things easy.

Finally it was Friday and the day of the hearing and jack was so uptied that he couldn't eat a thing and he was driving emma nuts with his constant getting up and then sitting down again untill she finally grabbed his arm and sat him back down;"Sit down,jack snyder,you're driving me crazy!"

"Sorry."said he looking a bit sheepish;"I'm just a bit nervous about the hearing today."

"I get that."laughed his aunt;"There's nothing to be nervous about,jack,because no judge in his of her right mind would grant her all that she has asked for."

"I hope not."answered jack;"I don't care about the money or anything,emma,but I don't want her to get half of my half of carly's house."

"Don't worry,jack,it'll be fine."said she;"Tom is a great lawer and if anyone can beat janet's new lawer he can!"

Carly had been a nervous wreck that morning too and after dropping sage off at school and getting parker to go to work,while he really wanted to be there for his dad in court and explaining him that it was a bad idea,carly arrived at metro and quickly started working to get her mind off things.

"Goodmorning,carly."said lily as she walked in and saw her friend being really busy;"Did I come at a bad time?"

"No,you came at a perfect time."answered she relieved;"I'm just trying to get my mind off things."

"Is today the hearing?"asked her friend;"Shouldn't you be there with jack then instead of working here at metro?"

"I wish I could be there for jack when it starts in an hour,but I can't because tom said that it would make jack look guilty or something like that."started carly softly;"I just don't want to do something to make things worse,lily."

"Hey,don't worry."said she;"It'll be okay and that witch isn't gonna get away with this!"

"Miss. Carly tenney?"asked a man,who came in;"I have something for a miss. Carly tenney."

"I'm miss. Tenney."answered carly surprised when she was handed some papers;"What's this?"

"That is a notice to appear in court,miss. tenney."said the man and walked away;"You're being called as a witness for mrs. Janet snyder."

"What?"asked she stuned and read the piece of paper;"I'm being called as a witness for that bitch?"

"Are you being serious?"answered lily just as shocked as carly was;"How can they call you as a witness for them?"

"I don't know why,but it can't be good."said her friend as she grabbed the phone;"I need to call jack and let him know about this!"


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Liberty was having breakfast when brad came downstairs;"Goodmorning,honey,do you need a ride to school?"

"No,I'll take my bike."started his daughter hesitating;"Do you think I should call mom and wish her luck for the hearing today?"

"I can't answer that for you,liberty,only you can."answered brad;"Look,honey,she's your mother and no matter what she has done or how she's acting right now she's still your mother and if you want to call her up then you should,but if you don't want to then that's okay too because it's your decision to make."

"I just don't get it,dad,I know that mom was hurt when jack and she broke up,but to blame everything on carly and to be all set on some kind of stupid revenge on jack and her is crazy."said she;"At the policestation carly had every reason to be mad at me after everything that has happened,but she wasn't and she was really nice and even worried about me,dad,so I felt even worse when mom jumped down her throat for doing nothing more then being nice."

"Let's just that the divorce is finalized quickly and that your mother can move on again."answered her father as he put his arms around liberty to comfort her;"Then all of this can put behind us."

Out at the courthouse jack was waiting for tom when he saw janet walking in with craig and walking up to him;"Are you ready to get what you deserve,jack,you and that bitch,carly?"

"Shut up about carly!"answered he angry;"You ain't half the woman she is and you never will be!"

"If that is true then why did you marry me instead of her?"asked his soon to be ex-wife furious;"You played me for a fool and now you're gonna pay!"

"Jack…!"called tom him worried as he came in and saw jack standing by janet and craig,looking like he could explode at any second;"We need to go over a few things!"

"Hey,tom."said he relieved and quickly walked away from janet and craig,without saying another word to them;"Did you get my message?"

"Yes,I did."answered his friend;"The fact that they called carly as a witness for them isn't good,jack,not good at all."

"They can't do this,tom,they can't just call carly to the stand!"started jack worried;"She's been through so much and she doesn't need this crap!"

"They can do it and they have,jack,there's nothing that I can do about it."said he;"But carly is tough and she'll do fine."

"If they do anything to hurt carly in any way….!"answered his friend angry;"I swear that I will….!"

"Don't say things like that in court!"warned tom him worried;"Whatever happens try to stay as calm as possible!"


	58. Chapter 58

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR : I WISH EVERYONE A WONDERFULL, HEALTHY AND AMAZING 2013. MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME WITH MY STORIES.

Chapter 58

At metro lily was still there with carly,who was even more nervous about being called as a witness for jack's soon to be ex-wife;"Relax,carly,it might not even be as bad as you think."

"I hope not."started she and looked at her watch;"Don't you have to be somewhere else by now?"

"No,not really."said lily quickly;"Isn't henry suppose to work today too?"

"He'll be here in about an hour."answered her friend suspicious;"Is there a special reason why you're staying so long,lily?"

"Ofcourse not."laughed she and was relieved when rosanna walked into the club;"Hi,rosanna."

"Hello,ladies."smiled rosanna;"How are things downhere?"

"You called her,didn't you?"asked her sister annoyed as she turned towards lily;"Now I know why you stayed so long,lily,were you scared that I was gonna to start drinking as soon as you'd left or something?"

"I only called rosanna because I saw how upset you were about getting called as witness for janet and I thought you'd might want her to go with you to the courthouse later on."started she softly;"I wasn't really scared that you were gonna start drinking again."

"Good,because there's no need to be scared about that!"answered carly;"I went through way too much to quit drinking to start again now."

"Hey,if you need me to go with you to the courthouse then I will,but if you don't want me to come that's okay too."said her sister;"It's your call,carly."

"It'd be nice if you went with me."started she with a faint smile and turned towards lily;"Thanks for trying to look out for me and it is nice to know that you care about me."

"Ofcourse I care about you and I'll always look out for you."smiled lily as they hugged;"That's what friends are for."

Katie was at the tv studio,sitting in their little office,when brad walked in;"Hi,brad."

"Hi."said he and sat down on the desk;"Liberty is really going crazy about this whole mess with janet."

"Ofcourse she is and what you're doing isn't helping!"answered Katie;"Keeping her away from her mother isn't the answer,brad,she needs to go back and sort things out with janet!"

"What I'm doing?"asked her husband stuned and angry;"I'm not keeping liberty away from janet and even if I told her to go back to her mother then she still wouldn't go and who knows where she'd end up then,katie!"

"Janet must be feeling pretty bad with liberty being with us like that,brad,don't you think that you owe it to her to try and get your daughter to go home again?"said she;"How would you feel if janet did the same thing to you?"

"I don't owe janet a damn thing and she did something much worse to me by keeping me in the dark about liberty for 16 years,so don't tell me what I owe her!"answered brad furious and walked away;"Even though janet doesn't deserve it i was being nice this morning and I told liberty that janet was still her mother and that she should call her if she wanted to and it's not my fault that janet has turned into a mean bitch,who wants nothing more then revenge for something that she thinks was done to her!"


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

At the courthouse jack was sitting next to tom infront of the judge,with on the other side janet with her lawer,when carly's name was called and he saw her standing up while rosanna gave her a comforting look.

As carly walked past him,not daring to look at him,jack wished he could get up,take her into his arms and promise her that it was gonna be okay,but he knew he couldn't at that moment.

Sending her a tender look as carly took the stand jack looked at the woman that he loved and prayed that janet's lawer wasn't gonna bully her too much when tom,who knew what was on jack's mind,put his hand on jack's and whispered into his ear;"Hey,try to stay calm,jack,it's gonna be okay and I'll make sure he doesn't push carly too much!"

"Thanks,tom."said he thankfull and focused on carly,who was being questioned by janet's lawer.

"So,miss. Tenney."started janet's lawer slowly;"Is it true that you are mr. snyder's ex-wife?"

"Which mr. snyder?"asked she with a grin on her face and jack couldn't help it,but smile as well seeing the fisty look on his face;"Brad snyder of jack snyder and to answer you question I was married to them both,but not at the same time."

"Jack snyder."answered the lawer annoyed;"Isn't it also true that mr. jack snyder left his wife for you?"

"No,that isn't true at all and I wasn't even in town when they broke up,mister,I was in L.A. at the time and I didn't get back here untill months after that."said carly;"Besides,people break up all the time and that's no reason to try to take them for all that they have!"

"Miss. Tenney!"warned the judge her quickly;"Just answer the question!"

"I will try."said she with a faint smile;"Sorry."

"Isn't it also true that you have been waiting for their break-up eversince mr. snyder asked mrs. Snyder to marry him?"asked janet's lawer;"Isn't it also true that the whole going away-thing to L.A. was part of your plan to make their marriage fail?"

"That isn't true!"started carly shocked at his words;"I didn't….!"

"Leave her alone damn it!"yelled her G-man furious as he jumped up from his chair;"She didn't do anything!"

"Calm down,jack!"warned tom him quickly and pulled him down back on the chair when he saw the judge looking angry at jack;"This isn't helping!"

"Mr. hughes,if you can't restrain your client then he will have to wait outside of the courtroom!"said the judge and looked at his watch;"Maybe this is a good time for a recess,so we will continue in about an hour or so."

Ten minutes later jack sat down next to carly at the little restaurant near the courthouse,where rosanna had taken her;"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."answered carly lying;"I'm just fine."

"No,you're not!"said her sister and looked at jack;"She isn't fine at all!"

"You're not going back there again,carly!"started jack angry;"That man needs to leave you the hell alone!"

"I can't not go back,jack,you know that!"said she softly and put her hand on to jack's;"I'll be fine."

"The way that he was acting towards you!"answered her G-man;"I wanted to kill him for making it sound like it was all your fault!"

"I know,G-man."began carly with a faint smile;"It'll be over soon and then your divorce can be finalized."


	60. Chapter 60

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR : I just want to thank you all for reading my story. Reading all of your sweet replies and support mean a lot to me. I hope you have an amazing Valentine's day on the 14th.

Chapter 60

A while later they were all back in the courthouse and carly had taken the witness-stand again as janet's lawer walked up to her;"Isn't it true,miss. Tenney,that jack snyder has a history of leaving women for you?"

"Then you must know something that I don't,because to my knowledge that isn't true and all the women that jack left only had themselves to blame for that."answered carly with a fisty look in her eyes;"I was one of the women he left you know."

"Is it true that you've been seeing mr. snyder eversince you came back and that you two have gotten real close again,miss. Tenney?"

"Jack and I have always been close,even if we weren't together or even when we were fighting there was still a bond between us,and ofcourse jack has been at my house often because we have kids together."said she with a faint smile;"Duh!"

"Miss. Tenney,behave yourself!"warned the judge her again;"Or else I will have to hold you in contempt!"

"Sorry and to answer your question:no,jack and I aren't together."smiled carly as she turned back towards janet's lawer;"Anymore questions?"

"No."answered the man a bit stuned and walked back to his seat as he looked at tom;"Your witness."

"I have no questions at this time."said tom with a grin on his face;"I think miss. tenney took the words right out of my mouth just now."

Katie felt really bad about yet another fight with brad and went to talk to Vienna about it;"I really need your advice."

"What's the matter?"asked her friend worried;"Did you have another fight with brad?"

"I said something about liberty being at our house again and he got so mad at me."answered Katie;"I don't know what to do,vienna."

"Why is liberty at your house?"started she surprised;"Janet didn't say anything about that."

"Liberty doesn't agree with her mother's decision to get revenge on jack and his family,so she left and moved in with us."said her friend;"Maybe brad is right,Vienna,maybe janet is way out of control."

"Look,Katie,now is the time to stand by your man instead of losing him!"warned Vienna her;"Janet isn't worth getting into a fight with brad over and tell him that you will stand by him no matter what,honey,tell him that!"

"But what am I suppose to do then?"asked she confused;"I already agreed to let liberty stay,so what else am I suppose to do to make brad happy?"

"How should I know?"laughed her friend;"Ask your husband what would make him happy!"


End file.
